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CDMRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



FACE TO FACE 

A Practicable Novelette 



BY 

LILLIAN LOTUS LANG 



liMialilKKOH PM1NTINQ * BlNDINfl HOUSh 
LOS ANCELK8 

1922 




Copyrighted 1922 

by 
Lillian Lotus Lang 



•CI.A686408 



OCT 2C !322 



"*■«./. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



1. IN THE GARDEN OF GOD. 

2. WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE. 

3. THE DEEP STILL WATERS. 

4. HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 

5. NATURE AND THE SOUL. 



INTRODUCTION 



I feel His presence, I know it is here; 
I feel His love, so wondrous — dear. 
My soul expands like some wonderful flower, 
Blooming in some fragrant ethereal bower. 

From the desert of ignorance I spring, 
To the greater truth, that will ever bring 
Happiness to the great and to the small — 
To all, who hearken to His loving call. 

******** 

When we attempt to convince others of the 
truths we have been enabled to gather by the 
wayside, we sometimes feel very much as did 
Abion when he sought the hand of Penelope. 
Placing a mallet and chisel in the hands of 
Abion, Penelope bade him hew out the image of 
her favorite sister, whom Abion had never seen. 
Throwing down the mallet and chisel Abion flew 
to Brene, where he established a kingdom, from 
whence he sent a message to Penelope : 
' * My dear Penelope : 

"I cannot hew out the image of one whom I 
have never seen, but if you will come to my 
kingdom, I will show you the WOEKS of one 
whom I have never seen. 

Devotedly, 

ABION.' ' 



8 FACE TO FACE 

I may be challenged for attempting to refute 
the WOEKS of the so-called dead. However, I 
find the works of Ingersoll and the queries they 
present, well suited (by refutation) to bring out 
the high lights upon my theme: That is, the 
VALUE OF LITTLE, homely, commonplace 
things; the Divine origin of, and existence in, 
animate and inanimate things which take their 
place in our lives in no small way. Each little 
thing that springs up by the wayside holds a 
parable expressed in truth, in which we may find 
a great theme through which to ennoble our en- 
vironments will we but take the time and thought 
to do so. We have not all taken the time and 
thought to apply the FULLNESS OF THEIE 
WOETH in our daily lives. It would not only 
be more practical to do so, but we would also 
reap so much that would add to the pleasurable 
side of life — the side that God meant us to find 
and apply to our better judgment. 

It was largely through LITTLE THINGS that 
Jesus taught the ''deep things of God." Some- 
times in parables and sometimes by demonstra- 
tion. In short, we have NOT attuned ourselves 
to meet these things that teach us not alone in 
fables, but also the beauty and refinement of 
ADAPTABILITY. Attunement sends us into 
vibrations greater, more perfect, than we are 
able to understand fully at the present time. 
When we DO become attuned we see more clearly 
God's purpose in placing these things around us, 
even though they sometimes are so very repulsive 
we shrink from them as we would from a leper. 



INTRODUCTION 9 

When we learn to overcome hatred of things, 
and infuse the love that comes with seeing nat- 
urally, through the spiritual eye, we can live 
among them and enjoy them thoroughly: whereas 
in the past we could not have done so at any cost. 

This is a great part DIVINE SCIENCE takes 
in our lives, infusing pleasure (when properly 
applied) in the everyday routine of life. We do 
not want to be a house divided against itself; we 
do not want the other half loaf to waste in the 
cinders of ignorance. We want to round out our 
lives in the FULLNESS OF OUR INHER- 
ITANCE. "MADE IN HIS LIKENESS AND 
IMAGE.' ' 

Ingersoll was a man of dual personality; on 
the one hand a lover of love and justice; on the 
other, a living denial of the SOURCE of love and 
justice. He has left to us an inheritance, the 
HALF LOAF, as it were. This I refute, bring- 
ing into evidence the OTHER HALF, the SUB- 
STANCE, that has made the image possible. 
"God is Love. ,, 

Spirit is INDESTRUCTIBLE. Spirit has 
VITAL force, hence spirit and matter are in- 
separable. Spirit has substance, hence the spirit- 
ual body; the substance of DIVINE WILL 
etherealized into one — perfect — whole. This com- 
pletes the cause and effect of Divine Principle. 
It also emphasizes the BODY and the BLOOD 
in the sacrament. 

"I IN YOU AND YOU IN ME" 

What this means to man is beyond the power 
of words. It emphasizes the PERSONAL pres- 



10 FACE TO FACE 

ence of God in time of prayer, in time of need, 
and all the time. God is ever present. What 
possibilities await man when he becomes in tune 
with this great power; enabled to comprehend 
and blend his being into one perfect UNITY 
WITH GOD AND THE HIGHER FORCES. 
In attunement there are no LIMITATIONS, but 
progression, here and hereafter. 

' l When I was a child, I spake as a child, I 
understood as a child, I thought as a child; but 
when I became a man, I put off childish things. 
For now we see through a glass darkly, but then 
FACE TO FACE. Now I know in part; then 
shall I know as I am known. ,, 

The little flower Immortelles have been the in- 
spiration of many a hearty laugh; many a jest 
has blended tears with blushes because Dan 
Cupid has caught some belated love in his 
meshes; and yet these little Immortelles teach 
us the EVERLASTING POWER OF GOD 
VIVIDLY. These artful little blossoms are only 
ONE of the LITTLE THINGS growing among 
other little things that cry out unto us with all 
the beauty and passion of Eden : BEHOLD THE 
POWER OF GOD! SPEAK to us, LOVE us. 
UNDERSTAND us, and SEE what we will do 
for you! 

Jesus taught through NATURE AND THE 
SOUL, and e'en the washing of feet. "If I, 
then, YOUR Lord and Master, have washed your 
feet, ye ought also to wash one another's feet: 
For I have given you an example that ye may do 
as I have done. Verily, verily, I say unto you, 



INTRODUCTION 11 

the servant is no greater than his lord ; neither is 
he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 
If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do 
them. ' ' 

It is the purpose of this book to show the way 
through LITTLE THINGS, bringing humanity 
closer to God, and the things of God. We have 
not as yet tasted the sweetness of the honey- 
suckle. We have pruned the vine, we have 
admired its beauty, we have gloried in its fra- 
grance ; and yet, we have not tasted the sweetness 
of HIS DIVINE PURPOSE as we should have 
done. 

There is a little thing left undone, unthought of, 
in almost every moment of our day. We do not 
take the time, or are lacking in the KNOWL- 
EDGE of God, our Creator, to enact His will 
towards mankind and the things surrounding 
him. It is the THINKING in right channels, the 
DOING of things, that makes life worth while. 
It is the WILLING enacting of His will that 
stamps the seal "Made in His Likeness and 
Image" upon our brow with His own dear hand. 
"Be still and KNOW that I am God." The 
word has been spoken, the reflection appears 
again and again, as the years go rolling by. 

As time brings all things to greater perfection, 
when the TRUTH abideth in it, so the WORD 
grows brighter; grows in potent power, mag- 
netic, thrilling in its intensity DEEP within the 
IMAGE IT HAS CREATED, infusing a fine 
sense of spiritual loveliness, fitness, creating a 
STILL finer element of beauty as time goes on; 



12 FACE TO FACE 

infusing within man an exquisite delight, not too 
delicate to apply to practical life, but rather a 
dynamic flood of energy and life; a form of 
matter that cannot be decomposed by any known 
science. Only God and HIS WORD IS LIFE: 
Hence we know that matter and spirit are in- 
separable. 

As electricity is directly connected with divinity 
and is a stream of particles having generating 
properties, it is a clear, distinct phenomenal 
truth that atom to atom is capable of individual- 
ism, hence the formation of each individual atom 
WOULD create, according to the WILL or 
POWER of the spoken word, which is electric- 
energy, a force that sends into active principles 
the creating powers. 

As ether is the MEDIUM filling all space, the 
spoken word passing through ether enables vi- 
brating subtle light, LIFE, to spring forth into 
active expressions. The beauty and wonder of 
it cannot help but bring to the hearts and minds 
of man the great desire to find, and when found, 
imbibe deeply the MIGHTY POWER, LOVE 
AND TRUTHS of the God who created him. 
Thus are we made free in truth. 

When seekers of perpetual motion will look 
to the constructive principles of spirit as a 
DIRECT FORCE COMPELLING EXPRES- 
SION, they may find the rudiments of perpetual 
motion. As "all things are FIRST worked out 
in spirit," then it stands to reason that WILL 
holds a greater force in the ideals man tries to 



INTRODUCTION 13 

materialize than any other operating energy 
brought to bear. 

It is a well known fact that in the ether there 
is some quality that might compel perpetual 
motion that man has not yet fathomed. When 
he understands fully the co-operation of gravity 
and usage of ethereal products, he will have it. 
Can it be that perpetual motion lieth close at 
hand! YEA — when we take into our thought- 
world the fact that the eternal spirit of man is 
perpetual, everlasting, eternal, breath of God, 
we know it. The question is answered; it is for 
man to perfect the ideal. Seek not great inven- 
tions apart from God, for THEY AEE OF GOD. 
When we recognize that fact inventions will 
grow in greater and greater magnificence. 

Inventions are largely due to electrical force, 
thrilling, spirited. As electricity is directly con- 
nected with divinity, we cannot get away from 
God, no matter how we try ; but to recognize His 
power in all things is to intensify that power, 
giving it an outlet for full expression, hence we 
reach perfection in that we undertake. It is 
just one of the little things that COUNT FOR SO 
MUCH IN LIFE and in the time of death where 
we shall "know as we are known." 

The Divine inflow is filled with the potent 
power to DO : "For if ye DO THINGS ye shall 
NEVER fail." THINK of it— a thought, a 
promise, we should never lose sight of! 

There is a little nest constructed in the Garden 
of God in which nestles happiness and pros- 



14 FACE TO FACE 

perity. Little things, you murmur; YEA — little 
MIGHTIES ; a military band that plays its own 
compositions. As we listen to the harmony our 
eyes wander to yonder field where stands a wind- 
mill with its great fan at the top singing a little 
song — all its own. "Bound and round I go," it 
is singing, "while you look indeed weird to me 
toppling (so it would seem) on your little head, 
spinning round like a bean spilling from the pod. 
I should like YOU to tell ME how I look to you— 
and then I almost catch my breath as I see you 
coming closer and closer to me, driving the cows 
to water; and a little sheep is among them, and 
a dog, too ; and 0, what is that ? A little chicken 
hobbling along, and so determined. 0, isn't it 
just too funny. And YOU and THEY look nat- 
ural again, and I must work harder to give to 
you that you are seeking. 

"And 0, Look, there is a little bird sitting- 
right on my trough ! 0, how I love to work for 
these. So you see, I must go round and round, 
while you are resting NATURALLY near me 
gathering strength and new vigor to go your way 
again. For it is when we ARE natural, you 
know, that we meet each other as we ARE, 
FACE TO FACE. 

"As you go on your way I listen to your 
merry whistle, and rejoice it is so; — and you?" 

I — why, I listen to your drowsy hum-oo-youm- 
um, blending with the music of the spheres, and 
my soul meets you there where we are all kin in 
the great understanding of NATURE AND THE 
SOUL, FACE TO FACE, where His truths are 



INTRODUCTION 15 

reflected in the DEEP STILL WATERS, IN 
THE GARDEN OF GOD. A light falls around 
me and I know HAPPINESS— What IS IT? It 
is the co-mingling of God's purpose ringing the 
vespers in the soul of LITTLE THINGS. 

I say, kind friend, it is possible to speak to 
these and they will answer thee. And yet the 
infidel shouts in turbulent tides: "If there is a 
God, WHO made God!" What is that but sob- 
bing in the dark? For has not God said: "Let 
there BE LIGHT and there WAS LIGHT"? 
In the reflection we are enabled to see God as a 
SUPREME FORCE, PERSONAL by nature, 
Divine in character; a Divine whole that em- 
bodies spirit. "God is a spirit" that took on the 
form of man to ENNOBLE and SAVE mankind. 

He is the RISEN CHRIST ; He came from a 
Divine principle of ethereal evolution — THE 
LILIES TELLETH THEE 

When we wander with the rain-drops, when we 

wander with the dew; 
It is then our hearts sing Halleluiah! aye, 'tis 

true. 
When we wander with the sunbeams, when we 

wander with the rain; 
It is then the echo of His victory comes floating 

back again. 
It is then the bells peal faster, as though to hurry 

us to prayer, 
While the glorious Halleluiah spellbinds all our 

care. 



16 FACE TO FACE 

list, the glorious Anthem, the exultant G-loria 

Patri strain, 
Drooping like the willows, around our earthly 

frame. 
Methinks I hear Him calling, not so very far 

away, 
Come, through trials and temptations, come, 

while ye may. 
Come through the grave to triumph, for this is 

God's own way; 
Come, little soul with the lilies, for this is Easter 

Day. 

And as we, ascending in His loving arms, look 

back on yesterdays, 
Pause and fold our wings in wonder, at the lilies 

and their ways. 
And then go on rejoicing in their theme and song, 
While God's little children scatter colored eggs 

along. 
Christ is risen! Christ is risen! the lilies telleth 

thee, 
Risen from the tomb to immortal VICTORY. 

LILLIAN LOTUS LANG 



CHAPTER I 

IN THE GARDEN OP GOD 

"The cedars in the Garden of God could not 
hide Him; the fir trees were not like His 
branches; not any trees in the Garden of God 
were like nnto Him in beauty." 

DIVINE UNDERSTANDING 

Ingersoll says, "There never can be an argu- 
ment tending to prove the inspiration of any 
book." 

What callest thou inspiration, Ingersoll? 

The fact is, the Infidel has not as yet found the 
first great principle to Divine Understanding; 
that is, the science of being; Divine Mind in man. 

When Divine Mind is permitted to express 
itself in the HIGHEST manifestation of truth, it 
emits the principle of being — the "I am, made in 
His Likeness and Image." The fact that Made 
in His Likeness and Image INCLUDES MIND 
is not to be overlooked; on the contrary, the 
truth in it proclaims itself. We realize fully our 
possibilities when we come into that great at- 
one-ness human will meeting Divine. 

"It is my pleasure to give you the Kingdom." 
This is an inheritance that includes everything. 



18 FACE TO FACE 

It is one of supply, love, redemption, truth and 
eternal life. 

What purely material mind could have written 
the Twenty- Third Psalm unless Divine Inspira- 
tion was seeking expression through Divine Will? 

Let us term inspiration Divine Mind wrought 
in the soul; mind exempt of error by beauty of, 
or in, Spirit, whether Divine or material. 

The passing of His footsteps still leave their 
imprint upon the earth — an inspiration to all 
who follow in His wake. His LIFE was the 
greatest love-song ever sung in the heart of 
truth; the greatest inspiration ever conceived. 
"For God so loved the world that He gave His 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
Him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life." No one who has ever read these words 
can truthfully say they have not had a heart- 
throb of belief in them; because they breathe 
love, and all the world understands — love. 

Every living thing expresses love in some 
form. Domestic animals show it, not only among 
themselves, but to us. We are loved ; it is in the 
atmosphere; it is one of the greatest principles 
in nature; it IS nature continually expressing 
HIS DIVINE GIFT. Every leaf and branch 
express the Divine spirit of inspiration. We 
learn to love the thoughts, the words, of the in- 
spired. They are deathless; Spirit never dies. 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 19 

My friend, could I but take thy hand and say 
with thee: 

"If my feeble prayers can reach thee, 
My Saviour I beseech thee, 
Even as thou hast died for me, 
More sincerely 

Let me follow where thou leadest, 
Let me, bleeding as thou bleedest, 
Die, if by dying I may give 
Life to one who asks to live, 
And more nearly, 
Dying thus, resemble thee." 

There is no place for argument in truth, it as- 
serts itself. 

Inspiration is a stimulant to DO things, 
whether it be the writing of books, songs, or 
takes an inventive turn. It matters but little 
what form it may take; the idea is "to put it 
through." Ah, man, spirit hath no limitations. 
and spirit dwelleth within man richly. Too oft 
the infidel swims in a cesspool of infamy, while 
inspiration is found in the light above. 

INGERSOLL: "The notion that faith in 
Christ is to be rewarded by an eternity of bliss, 
while dependentees upon reason, observation and 
experience merit everlasting pain, is to be re- 
lieved only by the unhappy state of insanity and 
ignorance. ' ' 

LOTUS: When we seek to evade answering 
a truth, we are seeking the meadow-lark's song 
where only sea-gulls fly. "Faith without works 
is dead." To work with faith quickens the Di- 




20 FACE TO FAGB 

vine within. Honest work brings its own reward. 
If we have faith ENOUGH IN CHRIST to LIVE 
His teachings, then we will receive an eternity 
of bliss. It IS bliss to know we have done our 
honest best even upon this mundane plane. 
Bliss now is bliss eternally assured. 

Faith in Christ is the goal of integrity. It is 
the DIVINE that Christ calls attention to, 
demands obedience to, it is His way of calling us 
INTO OUR OWN. His way is the way of truth, 
of love; it is Divine. Our best interests are 
always at heart with Him. 

Callest it insanity to be taught by the lilies 
whom God hath made immortal! The lily lets 
life live in natural simplicity; it asks not why, or 
wherefore; just blooming, content to send its 
fragrance and beauty throughout the world, with- 
out respect of persons. What a wonderful world 
this would be were we to follow in its wake, and 
PRACTICE brotherly love in the fullest sense 
of the word! And that is what the Bible has 
been teaching for ages; takes mankind a long 
time to grasp the truth and apply it to reason, 
does it not f It is the fault of man, not the Bible, 
if the world is not to his liking; he has been 
taught better. The lack of practical application 
to teachings of a higher nature in the world is 
appalling. 

Faith is not ignorance, nor ever has been. It 
is the foundation of character; holding the mys- 
tery of faith in pure conscience. He who lives 
by faith in works is bound to live in truth, where 
progress abounds. 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 21 

It is in the world of truth that we realize our 
own possibilities. To realize our own possibili- 
ties is to realize possibilities for others. This 
quickens the truth around us and in our own 
little world there shines a NEW light. Why 
then should we seek the ways of infidelism when 
the Christ way has been so long perfected? 
Proven, because ye cannot put it from you; it is 
life itself; it is truth; it is the hope of eternity; 
it IS eternity. 

To continually seek something we have had in 
our possession from the day of our birth is an 
unhappy state of ignorance; and, I might add, 
negligence. The way of truth has been in our 
possession from birth. The trouble is mankind 
has tried to squeeze by one little un-truth, and 
another little un-truth, until the scales have 
tipped to the bottom of deception. Too long has 
man sought truth in things too weak to bear, 
when it lieth within his own being, waiting to be 
called forth as the "day star" that knows no 
night. When man realizes that truth does lie 
within his own being, he is accepting his Divine 
inheritance (made in His Likeness and Image) as 
the one great gift through which he gains and 
never loses, and that is none other than exempli- 
fied inspiration. 

Truth is the greatest investment man can 
make; it draws a personal interest that compels 
the good to be made manifest in all things need- 
ful. To work with truth is to add to our store- 
house of good things. 

No more earnest devotee of truth exists than 



22 FACE TO FACE 

the Bible. It ever lias been a silent witness to 
man's indifference. Progression (that is, true 
progression) is found in the world of truth, the 
kind that is lasting and satisfying. Truth traces 
everything good for man; it never grows weary, 
it never grows old. Adhere to the truth and at 
the close of life (for which life was created) you 
will find roses, ROSES and lilies, too; for God 
hath spoken, and His word rings true. When 
we have trained ourselves to interpret the TRUE 
MEANING of God's reflected purpose in sending 
opportunities that seem at times phenomenal, 
coming as they do through varied and various 
channels, we also find the truth that gains and 
NEVER loses. For through that great at-one- 
ness we have tasted the bodv and the blood, by 
ACCEPTING CHRIST who worketh IN ALL 
THINGS GOOD FOR MAN. 

INGERSOLL: "Over the vast plain called 
life, we are all travelers ; not one traveler is par- 
ticularly certain that he is going in the right 
direction. No other plain is so well provided 
with guide-boards; at every turn and crossing 
you will find them. Upon each one is written 
the exact direction and distance. One great 
trouble is that most travelers are confused in 
proportion to the number they reach. Every 
pulpit is a pillory upon which stands a hired cul- 
prit defending the injustice of his own imprison- 
ment. No religion seems able to comprehend the 
simple truth." 

LOTUS: There can be no diversitv of wavs 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 23 

in the simple statement "IS GOD IN IT?" If 
God is in it, then there is something there for 
you. If you fail to see God in the ways of man, 
then others may. Eespect every man's vision; 
respect will meet some note of harmony in 
response unto thine own. 

Some come closer to God through some theme 
in nature than they do in the ways of man. Are 
they to be condemned? Nay, methinks not so; 
they have found Him. Truth lieth within the 
conscience of man; it is limitless when put into 
expressive principles in PURE conscience. If 
the man in the pulpit seems full of error, we may 
free him to a certain extent, by first seeking truth 
within ourselves. The best way to find truth in 
another is to first search self, then another's 
faults may not seem so enormous. 

The greatest indignity we can inflict upon self 
is to belittle self through another's wound. This 
nearly every one does to a certain extent, by re- 
fusing the pure laws of spirit, holding to some- 
thing we know cannot be the truth though we 
should like it to be. When mankind will admit 
the truth, accepting it in pure conscience, waver- 
ing not, the millennium will not be afar off, for 
God will appear in truth destroying untruth. 

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall 
see God." The reward of faith is purification, 
illumination, by which we are enabled to see the 
coming of the Lord. 

The bird by wandering, the swallow by flying; 
so the curse Causeless shall never come. 

"And ye shall seek me, and ye SHALL FIND 



24 FACE TO FACE" 

ME when ye shall seek me with ALL YOUR 
HE ART.' ' 

Getting RIGHT WITH GOD is all the EVI- 
DENCE man needs. Getting right with God is 
getting right with the LAW OF IDEAL THINK- 
ING, which breeds ideal LIVING. The Bible 
contains this scientific truth. To accept the 
truth is to confess the Divine within. Accept- 
ance is the ONE great stride UPWARD. The 
man in the pulpit is not imprisoned unless he 
abdicates his sacred trust. 

The churches are our springs by the wayside, 
wherein man may quench his thirst. The man 
that stands waiting, holding the cup lovingly to 
our lips that we may drink, represents God. If 
we push the cup from his hand, we cannot be re- 
freshed. "As ye drink of the waters of life, so 
shall it be unto you; as ye think when ye drink, 
so shall ye be refreshed." 

Upon every guide board is written the HOPE 
of eternal life; where there is hope, there is the 
bark that carries us on to greater rivers, greater 
seas. Hope is the birth of achievement; it lends 
zest to pursuit. Each one of us paddles our 
canoe according to our ENLIGHTENMENT and 
best judgment. "A lift now and then" renews 
our strength and gives greater insight within and 
without; also gives greater confidence to go on. 
If we do not always use our best judgment, it is 
because we have not become strong enough, BIG 
enough to overcome LITTLE temptations, little 
errors. 

There can be no confusion as to numbers, when 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 25 

they are met in pure conscience; pure conscience 
is clear seeing, calm reasoning, brotherly love, 
doubt eliminated, the DIVINE expressed in the 
fullness of HIS WILL towards mankind. 

If you go to church with the affirmation on 
your lips and in your heart, that there is nothing 
there for YOUR PROGRESSIVE MIND, you 
will be stranded by the wayside while greater 
souls move on. 

"If any of you lack wisdom let him ask God, 
who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth 
not. For he that wavereth is like the sea, driven 
and tossed. For let no such man think he shall 
receive anything of the Lord, for a double minded 
man is unstable in all his ways. Blessed is the 
man that endureth temptation, for he shall re- 
ceive the crown of life, which the Lord hath pre- 
pared for those that love Him." We receive the 
crown of contentment in this expression of life, 
when we obey the law of the Spiritual man. 

Harmony and obedience are the first laws of 
nature, hence the first requisite to obtaining the 
kingdom. To live in harmony, charity and love 
need not be confusing. We are not expected to 
accept everything that is unpleasant and detri- 
mental to our welfare; it becomes necessary 
sometimes to protect ourselves; we cannot meet 
chaos on common ground. 

The best way to "get even with the other 
fellow' ' is to hold harmony within. It is indeed 
humiliating to "fuss one's feathers" while "the 
other fellow" is looking on in meek and quiet 
spirit. To retain harmony within is the Christ 



26 FACE TO FACE 

way, the way that leads to greater power over 
self, and conditions that may arise of a deroga- 
tory nature. We not only house our own energy 
by holding harmony within, but we are enabled 
to help the "other fellow' ' when he has ex- 
hausted his. 

Would we but take our "hurts" to God, as the 
little shaver takes his hurts to mother, it would 
so weaken them they would no longer have the 
power to hurt. The same parental understand- 
ing is waiting for us at the throne of God as the 
mother and father has for their child or children. 
When we go to the fountain head, when we are 
enabled to help the "other fellow' ' by OUR 
OWN SOUL POWER, then are we leaving all 
and following Him; stopping not by the wayside 
to bury skeletons, for they are as naught. 

"I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE 
LIFE!" 

God is life ; in Him is no death at all. We are 
not wholesome when we cannot see the truth in 
the above statement. "I am the WAY, the 
TRUTH, and the LIFE." What a blessed as- 
surance ! 

Keeping time and rhythm with the better self 
is the music that spins the thread of inspiration; 
the kind of inspiration that brings into our world 
the immortal works of art, literature and inven- 
tions, to say nothing of thousands of little 



IN THE GARDEN OP GOD 27 

GEEAT THINGS that continually spring up by 
the wayside to astonish man. That is when God 
makes Himself felt. It is ascending to the 
heights, where God meets us more than halfway. 
It is passing through the storms of material 
things, gathering up the sunbeams, taking them 
with us in the spirit of truth to the great open in 
God's Garden, wherein is found the inspiration 
that thrills — the expressive principles in man — 
until the thrill becomes an actual reality, a living 
presence, a force that compels appreciation and 
gratitude from the world at large. Inspiration 
is creative in its desire to reach mankind. It 
builds a home in fertile brains, and there it stays, 
if fed, until it has created a throne before which 
all men bow. AH, MAN ! it is worth working for, 
worth waiting for. 

" HEEDING NOT THOSE THAT KILL 
THE BODY, AND AFTEE THAT HAVE NO 
MOEE THAT THEY CAN DO." 

No harm can come to us on the heights; it is 
God's resting place. I oft-times wonder at the 
indifference of mankind in this respect; they de- 
liberately run into danger to both soul and body 
and then say " GOD HAS DESEETED THEM," 
when in fact they have been going against every 
law of God and nature. Sooner or later they 
must know that the bell taps of worldliness are 
going to resound within their own souls. We 
are striking a responding chord somewhere 
momentarily: the sweetest music will sound dis- 



28 FACE TO FACE 

cordant to those whose ears ring with wanton- 
ness so — 

Let thine heart sing, let it bring 

The Divine within its walls. 
No wintry blast can wear a mask, the 

Lord thy God knoweth all. 
Let Him linger — let Him linger close 

Within thy call. 
He knows the frost the billows tossed 

Around thy soul, today; 
He knows the sorrows of thine heart, 

Behold the morning gay! 
It turns, it burns the dead leaves of 

Eegret to a cinder, and yet, 
Only God, knows why, regret and triumph 

Met, no more — regret! 

INGERSOLL: ''People of the church are en- 
slaved to God. " 

LOTUS: On the contrary, "God gives to 
every man liberty.' ' The trouble lies in the fact 
that it is not generally understood that LIB- 
ERTY is not a material condition only. TRUE 
LIBERTY is born of spirit; in it only can the 
grand flight in truth be made. There must be 
liberty of spirit as well as liberty in a material 
sense, to co-operate with the Divine. 

IN HIM I HAVE MY BEING; by Him are 
ALL THINGS MADE POSSIBLE, even love; 
and love is a truth that has answered all, from 
Calvary's blood-stained cross. He who permits 
DIVINE LOVE to guide him will have an il- 
lumined pathway. 



IN THE GARDEN OP GOD 29 

Mankind is as free as the little brook in yonder 
field. Eain comes (and I am going to be old 
fashioned enough to say, God sends it) or the 
brook would soon run dry and be no more. Just 
so God sends His truths to replenish man. The 
brook in NATURAL SUBMISSIVENESS re- 
ceives the rain. When mankind FULLY UN- 
DERSTANDS that the greatest power for good 
comes to those who ARE SUBMISSIVE to the 
natural inflow of Spiritual truth, they will receive 
not alone material benefits, but will receive Spir- 
itual UNDERSTANDING in how to use truth 
and not abuse it. Truth itself is as clear as a 
June sky, but it is sometimes frost-bitten beyond 
recognition by misuse and abuse. 

Preparedness begins within the conscience of 
man; it enables us to look in the mirror of truth 
without flinching. When we look long enough, 
we see also that the little brook has its uses, its 
profitable side; it irrigates the land, refreshes 
fowl and beast, and they in turn give to us again. 
Just so must we turn to the GREAT INFINITE 
SOURCE, and we shall not return empty handed. 
The future depends upon how we take care of 
the truth NOW, knowing that the guiding hand 
leads ever beyond material power ; on, on into the 
realms of miracle wherein we are made whole 
without the aid of material subjects. We then 
have nothing to fear by LIVING in truth. 

Let us pause now and then and note the violets 
growing near our feet. We may find a serpent 
lurking beneath their leaves; if we do, we will 
walk around it — a long way around it, and forget 



30 FACE TO FACE 

it ever was there, remembering only the violets 
beautiful. Learning WHAT and WHEN to for- 
get is a science. To forget the serpent hiding 
among the violets and remember only the beau- 
ties of the violet, is a form of worship that is 
refreshing. And this is the way to FIND and 
HOLD the Divine in all things, though they may 
seem ever so commonplace. Nothing is com- 
monplace when we know the substance of truth 
in it; it is just finding God after all, finding His 
bounteous supply, finding the beautiful side to 
things we had hoped to forget. 

God does not mean for us to forget, however, 
until we have learned to master ; nor is it slavery, 
but living in obedience to the natural law of the 
beautiful, God's law, that carries us beyond the 
things that might have been harmful if seen 
through material eyes only. The result of such 
science of thought is that of health and happi- 
ness. The more beauty we bring into our being 
the better health we will have. Everything is 
beautiful when we know how to find the beauty 
in it; and the way? — "I am the Way, the Truth, 
and the Life." 

We make others happy when we shed the 
truth around them, compelling love; that is, the 
natural love of man for his fellow man. 

"LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF." 

And this also is in obedience to "THOU 
SHALT NOT KILL" and "THOU SHALT 
NOT STEAL." We steal the rights of others 
when we stoop to pilfer their freedom, and this 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 31 

alludes to every living creature as well as man- 
kind. We rob them of their natural birthright; 
the right to be loved, not hated, not feared. 

"In all places where I record My name, I will 
come to thee and I will bless thee." His name is 
recorded in the Garden of God. 

Another great result of the science of ex- 
pressed thought is that we grow in love, become 
more Christlike; hence we are not only giving 
happiness to every living thing that passes our 
way, but we heal, consciously or unconsciously. 
We lead the lame and see for the blind. Love — 
Divine! INEXHAUSTIBLE fountain! 

God does not demand slavery, nor is man en- 
slaved; but God does demand that man follow in 
the footsteps of "HIS LIKENESS AND 
IMAGE" for the GOOD OF MAN. Man en- 
slaves himself when he refuses the truth, in which 
he might have been a great factor for good. The 
church stands amidst strife and contention, grow- 
ing ever nearer our hearts as we realize that it 
stands for GOD and ALL THE NAME IM- 
PLIES. 

"He loved, and did not hate; 
He healed, and did no harm." 

We pick up an apple ; it has a worm-eaten core ; 
we do not despise the TEEE because the apple 
was bad; no, we go straightway to the tree and 
search for a good apple. The church, like the 
tree, bears much fruit. The man that ascends 
the steps to the altar gives freely. Our souls 
with devotion illumined accept in humble submis- 



32 FACE TO FACE 

sion; we hear no evil, we see no evil, we are en- 
veloped in the gauze of SPIRITUAL UNDER- 
STANDING. The serpent of doubt and mis- 
trust cannot enter the kingdom filled with 
DIVINE LOVE, whether that kingdom be within 
or without. 

To remember to "love thy neighbor as thy- 
self " when entering the church door is a supreme- 
way of confessing God. No evil can withstand the 
beauty of a soul living in PURE CONSCIENCE. 
Love is the LAW OF LIFE, in the FULLEST 
SENSE OF PURE CONSCIENCE. "Are not 
two sparrows sold for two farthings, and NOT 
ONE is forgotten before God!" 

Every victory we gain without injury to our 
fellow man, brings us nearer to God and the 
angels. This is fact, and not fancy. "Get thee 
behind me, Satan!" is putting all things of an 
unpleasant and doubtful nature behind us, as 
well as temptation. It is rising above the worm- 
eaten core, ascending to the heights where truth 
alone makes itself manifest: It is MATERI- 
ALIZED SPIRITUAL POWER. 

"Beloved, let us love one another, for LOVE 
is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of 
GOD and KNOWETH GOD. He that loveth not, 
knoweth not God, for GOD IS LOVE." 

One of the greatest virtues that man can 
possess is to be loyal to a friend. It calls forth 
the virtues of integrity. That is, to do as you 
would be done by; not in part, but entire. Some 
are our friends just as long as some other person 
does not carry tales that bear fruit. It may be 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD :\:\ 

for better, it may be for worse, but were the one 
to whom these friends come living in the TRUE) 
SENSE of pure conscience, both friends could be 
held without clashing one with the other or upon 
the friend of both. To live in pure conscious is 
to attract friends and hold them — if they are 
worthy, deserving respect. Few, indeed, can keep 
more than one confidential friend at a time. 
Why? Because of LACK of truth. Where there 
is a lack of truth, jealousy, envy and falsehood 
creep in. This holds good in the church also. 
Every member living in truth will be a friend of 
the others in pure conscience when TRUTH is 
the keynote, when WISDOM is sought in place of 
censure. It is God's house, brother; to keep it 
in harmony with God's kingdom is to hold har- 
mony within OUR OWN SOULS. 

God can do so much MORE for us if we are in 
TUNE WITH HIM. Let us remember this al- 
ways. To be in tune with Him is to be in tune 
with our fellow man. This is unity in the highest 
sense of expression. The problems so-called 
of the Bible would be much more readily under- 
stood if the WORD was transmitted through a 
righteous receiver. We have no greater aim in 
life than to reach the goal of perfection in ALL 
MANIFESTATIONS of spiritual welfare. There 
can be no more exalted life than the life lived 
in pure conscience. 

I know it seems strange sometimes to those 
who do right (as near as they know right) that 
they do not receive the reward that follows right 
doing as soon as they think they should. The 



34 FACE TO FACE 

power behind the throne is nevertheless working 
to bring to the surface all just reward, when it 
has materialized FULLY in the lives of those who 
seek reward. Troubles oft, too oft, spring from 
a wellspring of inharmony; somewhere those 
seeking reward have refused to live in the high- 
est expression of truth. 

Keeping awake to truth is a great virtue. We 
let our clocks run down now and then. We fail 
to care for them as the NATURE OF CLOCKS 
demand they should be cared for ; by and by they 
refuse to give us service. So with truth. It must 
be tenderly cared for, eagerly watched, a lamp 
unto our feet. Truth is something that must be 
held to, and profited by. It will not give partial 
service when it is properly cared for. 

Sorrows are one grade in our school of learn- 
ing; they are the strings on the harpsichord of 
time and may be attuned to time as often as the 
performer (predestiny) wishes to play. "Who- 
soever doth not bear the cross and come after 
me cannot be my Disciple. " 

We test gold to see whether it is pure gold; 
we test the fruit of the tree to see whether it is 
perfect in flavor, weight and color. If we find an 
imperfection we set about cultivating the tree 
until it does bear perfect fruit. We, however, 
too oft end there — we do not look to the FIRST 
GREAT CAUSE, nor do we attempt to cultivate 
the truth within our own being; we succumb to 
the ravages of time and tide, wandering about 
like a lost chord. This is not true efficiency; it is 
not holding "to that which is good"; to the 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 35 

golden chain in which there is no semblance of 
tinkling brass. 

The church is a place we go to give thanks 
for the great PRINCIPLE for which the 
church stands; and to give thanks for the PER- 
SONAL PRESENCE of God, our Father, our 
friend and our Creator ; the beginning and end of 
all. And we also go to church to see how others 
are growing the fruit of the Spirit, that we may- 
better the quality of our own. Knowledge will 
never do the tree anv good, however, unless we 
apply PRACTICAL APPLICATION. Practical 
application is the best teacher. Adherent vim, the 
GREATEST PRODUCER in it, is not only self 
cultivation and preservation, but an example be- 
fore the world. Hence we are following in His 
footsteps. He whose fate is that of NORMAL in- 
tellectuality accepts discrimination as a NAT- 
URAL INSTRUCTOR between good and evil; 
fate and predetermined inevitable and adequate 
efficiency, as his natural BIRTHRIGHT. 

Truth is within; all it needs is to be called 
forth into expressive principles in works, by 
faith, looking ever beyond the trials of mortal 
man, keeping away from things that will not keep 
us looking up. "The actual fervent prayers of 
a righteous man availeth much." 

"Seeing you have purified your souls by obey- 
ing the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned 
love of the brethren, with a pure heart fervently ; 
BEING BORN AGAIN, not of corruptible seed, 
but of incorruptible, by the word of God which 
liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as 



36 FACE TO FACE 

grass, the glory of man as the flower of grass. 
Grass withereth and the flower thereof fadeth 
away, but the WORD OF THE LORD ENPCTR- 
ETH FOREVER/ ' 

Holding fast the guiding hand omnipotent in 
its power, is the faith that leads to soul growth. 
Some day we will have so grown in soul truth 
we may go back and build our nests in safety 
where once the shadows fell too thick. As we 
grow in Spiritual truth our vision changes, things 
have a different meaning to us; things we were 
once afraid of make us laugh now; things we 
have striven to the breaking point to possess, we 
would not have at any price. For such is the 
gift of the Spirit. "Every good gift and every 
perfect gift comes from above, with Whom there 
are no variations, neither shadow of turning. ,, 

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the 
Father is this: To visit the fatherless and wid- 
ows in their affliction; and to keep SELF un- 
spotted before the world.' ' "Not that we have 
dominion of your faith, but we are helpless of 
your joy, for BY FAITH YE STAND." 

' ' What profiteth it, my brethren, if a man say he 
hath faith and not works; can faith save him? If 
a brother or sister be naked, destitute of food, 
and one say be ye warmed and filled, notwith- 
standing ye give them not those things needful to 
the body, what doth it profit in FAITH if it hath 
not works! Harken, brethren, hath not God 
chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, heirs 
to the kingdom which He hath prepared for those 
that love Him?" 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 37 

This is the point upon which the infidel dwells 
so emphatically, saying: "GOD BRIBES YOU 
TO LOVE HIM." Again the infidel loses the 
thread of his argument, for does not God say 
also, "TO HIM THAT HATH, MORE SHALL 
BE GIVEN"! We have something, when we 
have faith. 

Faith is not a theory, it is a LIVING PRES- 
ENCE, something to HOLD TO, something that 
CREATES DESTINIES, something given to us 
in nature (just letting life live) ; not a happy-go- 
lucky state, but the SINCERE DESIRE TO 
LIVE in the FULLNESS OF FAITH with works 
as a stimulant, as a cornerstone that is wrought 
in nature's perfection. He who lives by faith 
in works, inherits the kingdom through Divine 
love ever expressing in good works; hence the 
creating power of faith works miracles. Faith 
held before our eyes to profit withal is, simply 
speaking, God's way of calling US INTO OUR 
OWN; Love, Divine principle, in which all things 
worketh for good. And this is not bribery, but as 
the tender love of a father for his child, the love 
that wants to see the child do its honest best; 
"Keeping self unspotted before the world." 

To obey the law of God is to advance in truth ; 
to advance in truth is to inherit the kingdom; it 
is but God's call to perfection. Where true value 
IS, there is love, and THERE is God. God gives 
to all men LIBERTY, and is no respecter of per- 
sons. 

"And besides all this, giving all diligence, add 
to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and 



38 FACE TO FACE 

to knowledge temperance, and to temperance 
patience, and to patience Godliness, and to God- 
liness brotherly love, charitv; for if these things 
be IN YOU and ABOUND YOU, they make ye 
shall neither be barren or unfruitful IN THE 
KNOWLEDGE OF OUE LOED JESUS 
CHEIST. But he that lacketh these things is 
blind and cannot see afar off; therefore rather, 
brethren, GIVE DILIGENCE YOUE CALLING 
and elation sure, for IF YE DO THINGS YE 
SHALL NEVEB FAIL. Have also more word 
of prophecy. You do well to take heed as unto 
the LIGHT THAT SHINETH IN DAEK 
PLACES, until the DAY STAE AEISE IN 
YOUEHEAETS." 

Faith is born of yearning; underlying all there 
exists a continued seeking for the things of God 
and for God. The striving for earthly gain may 
seem to divert it for a time ; nevertheless it comes 
back again and again, pleading for recognition. 
The indefatigable cry of the Divine weighs heav- 
ily in the balance until human Spirit quickens to 
meet Divine. Love grows ; and in truth we know ; 
and FAITH IS AFFIEMED. 

Divine LOVE, is the sweetest music vibrating 
throughout the world; those who keep in har- 
mony with the strains will not be confused at the 
Number of guide boards, but will rather give 
thanks that the HOPE of ETEENAL LIFE is 
made manifest in so many hearts ; even though 
it be not OUE WAY, or the way we BELIEVE 
TO BE THE WAY, Divine Love rises above the 
din of battle and unrest. It found its wav to the 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 39 

trenches where thousands called upon its protec- 
tion. It was that love that lulled to sleep the 
troubled hearts and minds of those left behind. 
It was FAITH in that love that made Masters 
over Kaiserism. NAY, we are NOT enslaved to 
God, but at one with Him. 

It is Divine Love that surges in the hearts of 
our brave that makes them stand at ATTEN- 
TION, garbed in a coat of olive green; watch- 
ing, waiting, hoping, yearning, with their lamps 
trimmed and burning. 

INGEESOLL: "Give to me the storms and 
tempest of thought rather than the dead calm 
of ignorance and faith. " 

LOTUS : What then — faith expressed in works 
most assuredly requires great concentrated in- 
terest. There are plenty of material storms com- 
ing our way to try our faith, I assure you. Ig- 
norance is not found in the REAL, the EAR- 
NEST. Think you it is ignorance to always seek 
the best? To call forth the forces of intelligence 
into ACTIVE PRINCIPLES AND HIGHER 
MOTIVES? Is it ignorance to concentrate upon 
the INNER meaning of faith and APPLY it to 
daily life! Faith brings a wholeness, a complete- 
ness. It does not give in part, when it is fully 
developed in the soul of man finding expression 
in works. 

Thought, my friend, is the substance that 
breeds the greatest unrest of our present day. It 
is not properly LIBERATED ; it needs the attun- 
ing of the Celestial. The dark brooding of uncer- 
tainty and unrest has almost "knocked the hot- 



40 FACE TO FACE 

torn out of the bucket.' ' There must be a lean- 
ing towards the backward flight; man must re- 
vert to the God who gave him life : ' ' Thou shalt 
have no others gods before Me." This is the key 
that unlocks the door of ignorance. Oh, man! 
how futile are thy ways ; thou art drifting a long 
way from nature. Look over yonder — see the 
trees — the birds — the mountains — and just be- 
yond, the trickling stream? "What of it?" Man, 
it is the NATURAL PLAY OF NATUEE where- 
in there are no morbid broodings, no unrest; 
JUST PEACE, just giving, and taking, in the 
true sense of Divine right. EIGHT breeds 
MIGHT ; the mightiness of the hour, the day, the 
chance. 

INGEESOLL: "Man has no ideas except 
those suggested by his surroundings. He cannot 
conceive of anything utterly unlike that he has 
felt." 

LOTUS: There is an active desire to further 
the interest of some scheme (idea) that could 
hardly be called feeling, but rather sensitiveness 
Our surroundings may not inspire ideas, and 
again they may. The truth is, that inspiration is 
born of spirit — it is Angel breath. Perchance it 
may only brush our cheek, yet we recognize it in 
our ideals: It is not feeling, it is KNOWING. 
When God has work for man, His Spirit descends 
upon him as the breath of Spring upon the daffo- 
dils; God's purpose is born within, taking the 
form of an idea, an inspiration, reaching to- 
wards the sunshine of materialization. Man's 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 41 

part is sweet and savory; it is to develop the in- 
spiration (idea) into the perfect star that shines 
alike on all mankind without respect of persons. 
Co-operation with God is the SUPREME QUAL- 
ITY of Being. 

The prompting Spirit is beyond the ordinary, 
yet it seeks expression in the ordinary, that man 
may become conscious of His Likeness and Image ; 
that he may also live legitimately with his BET- 
TER SELF, above the horizon 'of the LITTLE 
man. If the dawning spiritual nature is to be 
developed into the perfect DAY-STAR, man must 
first learn to master self, consenting to abide by 
the law of the spiritual man : It is in the Spirit- 
ual that the highest inspiration is found. 

There is a time and a place where all mankind 
can be reached, and spiritual truth quickened 
within. ' ' Wisdom is better than weapons of war, 
but one sinner destroyeth much good. ,, Verily 
I say unto you, hold your heads above the waters 
of treason, knowing that while one sinner de- 
stroyeth much good, one God destroyeth sin in 
one sinner; therefore, God and good prevail. 
"To everything a season, and a time to every 
purpose under the heavens ; a time to keep silent 
and a time to speak.' ' 

In ye olden days much stress was laid upon 
time and place. In the present day and age it is 
termed a superstition that should be abolished 
to begin a journey in the new of the moon. It 
is well to remember, however, that in ye olden 
days they were obliged to conform somewhat to 



42 FACE TO FACE 

the condition of the elements. They did not have 
the modern conveniences of travel that we have 
now. 

Take, for example, "at the time of the new and 
full moon the tidal forces of the moon and sun 
act in the same direction, while at the first and 
last quarters they oppose each other. When they 
unite their forces we have spring tides, charac- 
terized by large ranges of the tide ; when they are 
opposed, neap tides, having small ranges. The 
spring and neap tides usually occur soon after 
the corresponding phases of the moon. The in- 
terval is called the Retard, or Age of the Tide, 
or Age of the Phase Inequality, and is usually 
less than sixty hours. The limited intervals have 
their mean values at the time of the spring and 
neap tides, the tides occurring a fraction of an 
hour earlier between spring and neap tides, and 
later between neap tides and spring. Other 
things being equal, the range tide is greater than 
usual — about one-sixth part — when the moon is 
near Perigee, and about as much less than usual 
when near Apogee. An increase or a decrease of 
about one-tenth part of the range occurs when 
the moon is near the equator, near the point of 
extreme declination, respectively; while the in- 
equalities among the four tides of a day are due 
to the presence of a diurnal wave, or partial tide, 
whose period is approximately twenty-four 
hours. The cause of this lies in the fact that 
if the Moon is north or south of the equator, 
its tidal forces are somewhat different when two 
half lunar days apart are compared. 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 43 

"All particles of the earth (the sea included) 
will continue to occupy positions fixed relative to 
one another, if no other forces are impressed upon 
them, as following: the earth's attraction, its cen- 
trifugal force or axial rotation, and a force acting 
upon all particles. For example, the centrifugal 
force, due to the revolution of the earth about 
the center of gravity, or earth and moon. If an 
extraneous force does not work upon all particles 
alike, the motions will set up the yielding parts. 
The attraction of the Moon upon a given particle 
(near the surface say) is along a line drawn (at 
any given instant) from the particle to the 
Moon's center. Its intensity, which is inversely 
proportional to the square of the distance and its 
local direction (that is, direction with respect 
to the earth's surface) continually changes as the 
earth rotates upon its axis. The attraction of the 
Moon upon particles at the earth's center — or upon 
the earth as a whole — is along the line drawn 
from the earth's center. 

"A consideration of this tendency will enable us 
to answer the question why there should be two 
high waters each lunar day instead of only one 
high water. In a single instance, the reason is 
that the Moon attracts the water on the hemi- 
sphere facing the moon, more powerfully than 
it does the water on the further side of the 
earth; but attracts the earth in general, more 
powerfully than it does the water on the further 
side of the earth. The difference between the 
action of the moon at any point of the ocean is 
its tide producing force at a specified time." 



44 FACE TO FACE 

You no doubt know this to the letter; and yet, 
have you ever thought of it in this connection ? 
"But," you say, "there is the desert.' ' Yea, ver- 
ily, there IS the desert, and the Moon has its effect 
upon the desert. 0, the peace of the desert at 
moontime ! 

The people of old began a journey upon a given 
time. Therein lieth wisdom, the wisdom that can- 
not be destroyed by the one sinner. When Divine 
wisdom is turned in quickening Spiritual intelli- 
gence, it may be likened unto a silver stream 
through which Divine light and substance flow; 
soul truth, the day-star that knows no night. 
These people were in unity with the forces gov- 
erning the universe. That is a large part of soul 
truth; it brings mankind so close to nature, to 
the laws governing nature, to the Divine in 
nature. 

I want to take you to a little home in the far 
northwest. This home was named TEIUMPH, 
as it was in this home a great geological triumph 
was completed, in which the Wasp (self termed) 
was spending the happiest days of his life; the 
world at large having lost sight of him. It is his 
fondest wish to remain in his home of Triumph, 
among the great pines, while he lives upon this 
mundane plane, unmolested. As we sat talking 
of the beauty of the surrounding country and its 
value to man, the moon lifted its silvery sheen 
above the tops of the wonderful trees. 

I had not intended to refer to my host's profes- 
sion in any way ; in fact, I had given my word not 
to, would he grant an interview. But the glory 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 45 

of the Harvest Moon brought to my lips spon- 
taneously: "0, tell me, how do YOU see the 
moon?" The quiet, dreamy man at my side 
looked up cheerfully ; was he glad I had asked ? I 
hoped so. 

"How do I see the moon?" came half joyfully, 
half reverently, from his lips. "Why, it is a force 
that attracts the subjects upon the earth plane; it 
has a peculiar magnetic force that compels. It 
has magnitude that comprises vaporous ether 
and a solid mass of mineral. It is fathoms deep. 
The exterior is a phosphorous substance infusing 
itself, its strength and power upon the earth 
plane. It has no diameter, it has circumference. 
It has a magnetic force that compels certain ex- 
pressions upon land and sea." 

Long we sat silent, painting dream pictures. I 
was somewhat nonplussed that my host did not 
remind me of my promise. Finally he said: "I 
do not wonder at your spontaneous query; it is 
one that could hardly be avoided, seeing the 
moon from this point." 

And then we drifted in days of old. We wan- 
dered with Mary and Joseph through the night, 
we looked at the star with the three wise men, 
and then changed our course. I asked my host 
what he thought of the so-called superstitions of 
those days. 

"It was more of an attuned Godliness, and a 
knowledge of nature's forces than superstition, 
that caused the people of old to take a journey 
upon a given time. Have you ever wondered, 
my friend, when your eyes have fallen upon this 



46 FACE TO FACE 

little passage in the Bible: "It is a good land 
which the Lord onr God hath given us," have 
you? Yea verily, said I: "It IS a GOOD land, 
which the LORD OUR GOD hath given us." 

A far away look came into the eyes of my 
friend, a look of wonderful love for the Omnipo- 
tent hand that had made it a good land. Silently 
I sat waiting, the silent devotion of my host was 
one in which I too could join. Finally he said: 
"It has been two hours spent with a kindred 
spirit, it almost makes me want to go back to city 
life that I may meet more kindred spirits; and 
yet, (with a sweep of his still beautiful hand) all 
nature is kin. I have found great inspiration 
here. I have found solace in the whisper of the 
leaves, I fall asleep when the crickets sing their 
lullaby; I find amusement in the croak of the 
frogs, they inspired the slumbering little sunken 
garden at your feet." 

"But," I cried, "do you not find it very lonely 
and cold in the winter months?" 

"Cold! truly, it is cold; but have you never 
thought of the frost on the window pane and 
what it brings with it?" 

Truly I have. I was delighted to think he had 
fathomed the secret I had held so long; — the 
beautiful frost, snow and ice crystal would tend to 
strengthen the knowledge of spiritual things. I 
was well launched, my studies would interest 
him, and it would help my sailing, I thought. 
But my host was asking what I had found in my 
studies. I have found that things as small as 
frost, snow and ice crystals hold countless wells 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 47 

of beauty; years of study; they are FULL of 
wonders. I can say without exaggeration that 
these crystals are formed in the ethereal frag- 
ments of the Divine; that is, they are formed by 
the co-mingling of the Divine and material. All 
things that are perfected according to the laws of 
nature spring from the Divine within their imme- 
diate surroundings, or passage through air, as 
the case may be; hence, we not only have the 
beautiful formations of frost, snow and ice crys- 
tals, but we have the formation of jewels rare 
and beautiful. 

Were mankind for one moment to watch the 
formation of these wonderful and beautiful gems 
they would cry out in amaze. When a jewel is 
placed on the hand of a loved one, its beauty and 
value only are thought of. Little they know what 
wonderful formation they are in possession of — 
the formation of Divine Light, Divine Substance 
— that has first etherealized itself and then crys- 
tallized itself ! by underground chemical opera- 
tions. 

All the world, and all therein, was FIEST 
etherealized and then materialized. This is none 
other than the power of spirit, the Spirit that 
moved upon the face of the waters. Every true 
gem speaks of the Divine working of CEE- 
ATIVE FOECES ; this would lead us to thought, 
and its effect. If thoughts be of love, then are 
they not pure spirit? What then must be the 
crystals of thought (spirit) meeting spirit! Ma- 
terial thought becomes purified by its passage 
through air ; and yet, there is a fragment of what 



48 FACE TO FACE 

has been, that tells the story of life and its deeds 
upon this plane. These fragments are called 
THINGS. Deeds (things) crystallized in the 
ethereal, materialize power to do according to the 
value of the thought and deed. 

A pigeon cooed to its mate; the scent of the 
pines almost intoxicated me, whilst we — with in- 
terests in common — clasped hands and bade adieu 
in silence; it could not have been otherwise. 
There are moments when words availeth not, 
when spirit meets spirit in the boundaries of the 
Divine. 

As I walked through the moonlight to my car 
waiting in the distance, I thought how natural is 
Spirit; it could not be forced; it was NATURE, 
and nature does not respond to force, but to 
love. A time, thought I, to throw away some 
things that would retard the flow of the silver 
stream. 

AH! it is the serene Spirit that rocks the 
cradles of the great; the serene mind that " holds 
fast that which is good. " And so, in the days of 
old, it was not considered superstition to plant po- 
tatoes in the dark of the moon. "The moon has 
not the power, ' ' they said, ' ' to draw the magnetic 
food that compels growth in its dark stages." 
Some say to plant potatoes in the new of the moon 
is to give added life ; that is, the compelling force 
of the new moon will cause almost instantaneous 
growth. It is a matter of magnetic force. The 
moon has greater power, in greater measure, in 
different stages of its expression. It is not 
really a superstition but the PARTLY DEVEL- 



IN THE GARDEN OP GOD 49 

OPED understanding of magnetic growth in var- 
ious parts of the earth, or a matter of opinion; 
in some cases, a matter of climate. It is a science 
that has never been fully or satisfactorily ex- 
plained, but put aside as a superstition that 
should have been abolished. It is one of the 
LITTLE THINGS that may some day evolve 
into a great scientific principle. 

We know the moon IS ; we know the earth IS ; 
and yet do we know the relative value of TIME 
and PLACE? We have good potatoes, "so why 
worry?" says the material man. Yes, we have 
good potatoes — sometimes; but, we have better 
potatoes in one part of the country than another, 
and we have finer potatoes on one farm than on 
another. WHY IS IT? Is it the care or care- 
lessness of the farmer, better soil one place 
than another, or time and place? It can be ANY 
or ALL of these — farmer, soil, or time. The 
thing that stands out clear and distinct IS that 
we have NOT mastered the art of planting po- 
tatoes. As simple as this may seem to you, it is 
but the illustration of the whole. We have not 
become masters of time and place. W"e have 
thrown by an OPPOETUNITY at the value of a 
superstition. 

In olden days mankind strived to OBTAIN the 
"understanding that cometh with the morning.' ' 
They were to a great extent in tune with the 
FOECES GOVEENING- the universe, hence 
THAT class of miracles. Today mankind is 
more in tune with COMMEECE than with the 
DIVINE IN NATUEE, therefore that class of 



50 FACE TO FACE 

miracles HAS MATERIALLY CHANGED. 
Ever since the world began there have been those 
who have sought truth when they were com- 
pletely OUT OF TUNE WITH TEUTH; hence 
they are seeking something they NEVER WILL 
ATTAIN, because it has NO existence. Truth is 
attune-ment. A NEW THEORY is a butterfly 
without wings ; an OLD TRUTH is a perfect bit 
of rejoicing. 

" There is a time and a place for every pur- 
pose under the heavens." Purpose includes the 
planting — of potatoes. Some day there will come 
from our schools of agriculture a great soul who 
will explain many of the miracles of time and 
place; not alone seasons but the magnetic qual- 
ities of earth, moon, sun and stars; and — the 
planting of potatoes. It will not be a peasant alone 
who through watching and working for years has 
observed, but the scholar who has co-mingled his 
experiences with his tuition, tactics and theories. 
At any rate the one who concentrates upon a 
GIVEN THING becomes more or less in TUNE 
WITH IT, and the forces governing it. We are 
rapidly passing through the dark stages of ignor- 
ance into the wonderful morning of a better un- 
derstanding. Then will NATURAL results of 
THINGS be not so weird and unseemly but a 
part of the GREAT ETERNAL WHOLE. 
Things that seem to tinge of superstition now 
will be understood and valued accordingly. Too 
much thought has been directed towards abolish- 
ing, when the causes should have been investi- 
gated no matter how trifling they may seem 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 51 

Somewhere within them there is SOMETHING 
for ns; whether it be a lesson in which we learn 
the law of efficiency, or the dry fact of incompe- 
tence. True, there are many of these we may 
wish to lay aside, but how are we to know the 
value of the few if the WHOLE is not taken into 
consideration? The apple is not tested by its 
color alone; its flavor and weight are taken into 
consideration. We must learn to look at things 
FACE TO FACE without fearing contaminating 
influences, if we ever expect to glean enough 
truth to understand the NATUEE OF THINGS. 

What woman, having ten pieces of silver, if 
she lose one piece, doth not light a candle and 
sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find 
it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her 
friends and her neighbors together, saying: "Re- 
joice with me for I have found the piece which 
I had lost!" Likewise, I say unto you — there is 
joy in the presence of the Angels of God over 
one sinner that repenteth. 

What is REPENTANCE? It is HOLDING 
FAST THAT WHICH IS GOOD, COM- 
PLETELY SEVERING the tie that has made re- 
pentance necessary, keeping in harmony with God 
whom you liave had so long a time with you. To 
become in tune (harmony) with God is to come 
into greater understanding of the things of God. 
This is another scientific truth contained in the 
Bible: "If you love me, you will keep my com- 
mandments. ' ' 

We know, or ought to know, that to become in 
tune with the CREATOR of our BEING, is to 



52 FACE TO FACE 

come into power of good in that being, and that 
leads ever upward. To SEEK the BEST faith- 
fully, "with ALL OUR HEART,' ' is to find the 
best; when we find the best, we usually apply it. 
This is a CREATIVE PRINCIPLE and IS a 
TRUTH. It is Godly, hence is not found in any 
other expression of life. This is whv man must 
necessarily be IN TUNE with the CONSTRUCT- 
IVE PRINCIPLES OF BEING to apply them 
to outward expressions. This shows plainly why 
those seeking truth through a channel that 
NEVER HAS HAD an existence cannot find 
what they are seeking. They 'have left the SUB- 
STANCE and are trying to CREATE A SUB- 
STANCE THAT HAS NO CONSTRUCTIVE 
PRINCIPLES. In other words, "the body and 
NOT the blood,' ' hence he fails to create a LIV- 
ING truth. 

God is the SUBSTANCE OF TRUTH. WITH- 
OUT Him there is naught but the MATERIAL 
mind and its morbid wanderings; whereas, were 
that mind to soar to the heights it would be trans- 
figured, claiming its own DIVINE RIGHT:— 
THAT OF DIVINE INTELLIGENCE. Then 
would the old truth "GOD IS LOVE" ILLU- 
MINE man's intelligence into spiritual under- 
standing. He has FOUND and is not seeking. 

"No man having put his hand to the plow and 
looking backward is fit for the kingdom of God." 
No man having truth WITHIN need turn his 
head to see HOW MUCH TRUTH is in the 
"other fellow." To be in tune with God and the 
higher forces is power, not only in one's own 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 53 

being, but attracts a like power in the world 
without. Being in tune embraces TEREIFIC 
POSSIBILITIES; it also emphasizes "SEEK 
YE FIRST THE KINGDOM, AND ALL 
THINGS NEEDFUL SHALL BE ADDED 
UNTO YOU." Not only that: "WHEN A 
STRONG MAN, ARMED, KEEPETH HIS 
PALACE, HIS GODS ARE AT PEACE." 

We may build in spirit until it multiplies the 
added power to produce THOUGHT SUB- 
JECTS. What could not be produced by one 
FREED FROM LIMITATIONS? God created 
HIS IDEAL, — the spiritual man; if we do not 
meet that ideal we are then the less THE DI- 
VINE IDEA. GOD endowed us with spiritual- 
ity. If the carnal man is uppermost, it is the 
fault of self, or training, or both. 

INGERSOLL: "Man in his ignorance sup- 
posed that all phenomena was produced by some 
intelligent power." 

LOTUS: "God works in wondrous ways His 
miracles to perform." God is spirit, spirit is in- 
telligence. That which HAS BEEN IS NOW. 
"My son, be glad, and make my heart glad, that 
I may answer him that reproacheth me." 

"Every word of God is pure." Who does not 
love and reverence the pure? IN GOD'S WORD 
only will the crystal stream flow on unclouded by 
infidelism. It is not LIVING IN TRUTH to be 
happy today and tomorrow die in soul truth. The 
life of the DAY STAR is a constant PHENOM- 
ENON to those who CLOSE THEIR EYES TO 
THE TRUTH in it. There is a great Presence 



54 FACE TO FACE 

with us all that seems phenomenal to those who 
do not understand the working PRINCIPLES of 
it. Ofttimes seemingly inanimate things are phe- 
nomenal in their nature. 

EV THE WORLD OF THINGS 

Let us drift for a time in the world of THINGS, 
and see what conclusions we can come to concern- 
ing them. First; everything has a spiritual 
worth, if we but recognized the true value of it. 
To RECOGNIZE the true value of any place or 
thing is to, in a measure spiritualize it. To give 
thanks THROUGH HIS WORD is to complete 
the spiritualization, for it is sanctified by the 
WORD OF GOD AND PRAISE. "Every crea- 
ture of God is good, and nothing to be refused, 
if it is received with thanksgiving and praise.'' 
The heart singeth in accord, hence the HARMONY 
OF PURPOSE IS SANCTIFIED. The sub- 
stance of the Lord is given in HIS WORD — 

"I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE." 

The value of the sacrament is intensified when 
man REALIZES the full significance of the 
POWER OF SPIRIT to PENETRATE sub- 
stance, place or thing. 

Mr. Morton's commission took him and his 
beautiful young wife to the wilds of South Amer- 
ica. After sojourning there for a period of three 
and one-half years a little daughter was born to 
them. The wife soon succumbed to the ravages 
of fever. Mr. Morton put the babe in the hands 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 55 

of a good old Christian soul whom they called 
Granny. Old Granny infused in the child a won- 
derful love and understanding of God, and the 
things of God. 

When Bertha became of age Mr. Morton was 
suddenly called to New York. The child woman 
begged to accompany him. Mr. Morton hesitated ; 
he would be compelled to return to the wilds as 
soon as he could hasten the business on hand. 
What would be the outcome! Would his beau- 
tiful daughter want to remain in the great city of 
which she knew nothing? Or, would she keep 
her sweet flower-like womanhood to grace his 
home? He wanted her to marry by and by; but 
were not those who were in the world working 
for him far more suitable than the city chaps of 
whom Bertha knew nothing? 

Bertha did not take happily to the great city. 
It was wild, she said, far more so than the nature 
wilds she had just left. People did not seem to 
live, they hurried so; every one seemed to try to 
get ahead of the other. 

One beautiful morning she stepped to the win- 
dows in the great dining room of the hotel in 
which they were stopping. It was with great 
pleasure she turned to her father standing by her 
side and said: "I want to go there, father, 
where the great tower bears the cross/ ' The 
father begged to be excused, he had so much to 
do; but stepping aside he spoke to a lady who 
seemed to be much interested in Bertha. 

"Will you kindly take Bertha to the church 
over there, Madam V 9 



56 FACE TO FACE 



i i 



I will, and gladly." 

Never before had Bertha been inside a church. 
The altar she had known had been the soul of 
nature ; the tapers the stars ; the song of the birds 
the mass; the chanting of her own pure little 
soul the vespers; yet, she had said: "I WILL 
KNOW HIM WHEN I SEE HIM; did not 
Granny say I would?" 

The sun that she had known in the wilds 
streamed through the windows of the church. A 
crimson stream flowed from the side of Him who 
was so wonderfully pictured there. Clasping her 
hands in ecstasy she cried aloud: "WHY, GOD 
IS NATURAL! it is NATURE TO SUFFER 
FOR THOSE WE LOVE." The goblet was 
pressed gently to her lips; for the first time she 
drank. "I have seen HIS IMAGE; I have par- 
taken of HIS SPIRIT ; and now I want to go back 
to my nature's home and take what I have found 
with me, that its memory may not be contam- 
inated by material thought." 

No one told her it was not customary to speak 
aloud while in church. A chord in nature had 
been struck in which vibrated the real, the true, 
the pure. Those who saw seemed to know and 
feel something they did not want to change. As 
the little form found its way down the aisle, the 
Priest raised his hands in blessing upon the pure 
little soul who had drifted their way from the 
wilds. 

A few days later the train steamed away bear- 
ing father and daughter. A strong young fellow 
stood watching longingly after. "I, too," he 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 57 

murmured, "will go to the wilds that she may 
find the God for me whom I have never found, 
not even here where HE is pictured everywhere. 
No, I have not been seeking Him naturally. I 
have not loved, because I did not know. ' ' 

The little flower of the wilds was growing, and 
content TO GROW, as do the lilies of the field. 
So, quickly, do the sweet and pure find response 
in the INFINITE BEING who gave them birth. 

A few years later there came to the great 
wilderness a Sister of Mercy who beheld the 
home of three. A little flower-like woman quiv- 
ered between life and death, as her husband hov- 
ered over her waiting the coming of the fourth. 
Unquestioningly the Sister took charge. 

The father with tear-stained eyes said: "Sis- 
ter, why here? we are not Catholics." 

"Ye are of God's little children," said the Sis- 
ter sweetly. "HE HATH SENT ME." 

The next morning a beautiful babe lay in the 
mother's arms. Heaven had blessed; love had 
sanctified; in that far-off wild there smiled a 
little child. 

Birth is phenomenal in theory; in fact it is the 
natural play of nature asserting itself in the 
highest manifestation of truth. Death is no more 
wonderful than birth; it is the fullness thereof, 
the expression of the highest intelligence (spirit) 
coming into its own. As we call to mind these 
two great events in the life of each of us, we 
secretly give thanks for the great steeples of 
memory, from whose beams ring out the old and 
ring in the new. 



58 FACE TO FACE 

It matters but little to the sincere what others 
are thinking; it is what WE ARE DOING- that 
counts. Yea, the church, to some, is a thing apart, 
the sacrament forgotten. 

"No greater gift hath any man than he lay 
down his life for a friend." Hadst thought of 
this in connection with those who have left this 
world of material things and gone to work in the 
field of Holy labor? Ought we not bless the day 
they come our way? 

Why do we look for error? Why not look at 
the great sacrifice 1 What if they do make a mis- 
take now and then? Can we look in the face of 
all and say WE are free from error? 

It IS a sacrifice to go into the field of labor; 
a sacrifice on the altar of worldly criticism; a 
sacrifice of nearly all that man holds dear upon 
this mundane plane; and for WHAT? To save 
you FROM yourself. The selfishness of worldly 
criticism is deplorable. The world expects the 
BEST from those whom they criticise without 
a hearing. They say, it is human nature to find 
fault. If it is, it is a part of human nature man- 
kind could well do without. 

"Then Jesus answering said unto them: "Go 
your way and tell John what things ye have seen 
and heard ; how that the blind see, the lame walk, 
the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead 
are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached." 

Out of fifty I have asked why they chose their 
vocation, the answer has been practically the 
same — "Because we owe it to God and man, to 



IN THE GARDEN OP GOD 59 

ourselves and our families. We would not go 
from the field of labor in His vineyard for all 
the worldly pleasures you could offer us. ' ' 

"Have you then no r egrets ?" I asked. 

The answer of one I will give you; the one 
sounds the chord of all. 

"I was sitting in the study not long ago. The 
secretary of the church came in saying: ' Pastor, 
we have not one penny to our credit. ' He said: 
'We have God, He is worth more than a penny. 
To him that hath, more shall be given. GOD 
SAID SO. Let us try an extra night of labor 
and see what that will do!' " 

This great soul stood by the telephone for an 
hour, coming in contact with the talented ones of 
his congregation. At the end of that time he had 
the promise of much talent. On the following 
Wednesday evening there was an entertainment 
given that put hundreds of pennies to the credit 
of the church. This great soul did not stop there ; 
he said: "We have received, PRAISE THE 
LORD," and he kept on giving entertainments 
that became so famous the people did not want 
to give them up. They did not give them up, they 
are going on, and with them a greater UNDER- 
STANDING OF SPIRITUAL TRUTH. 

There is a peculiar trait in mankind; their in- 
terest and attention must be called forth and 
centered on a given thing, before they absorb the 
essence of the whole. 

Man wants to be entertained. He is GOING to 
be entertained somehow, and it is a great science 



60 FACE TO FACE 

to know how to infuse ENOUGH truth into the 
entertainment to QUICKEN spiritual growth; 
for 

"IF YE DO THINGS, YE SHALL 
NEVER FAIL." 

This is not to find fault, or half do. It means 
DO — a powerful little word in the world of 
things, that will cause phenomenal results, in- 
telligent results. 

Then there is the body, the vase that holds the 
flower of the soul. How about it? We buy im- 
ported vases to fit in some niche in our home that 
especially requires harmony and beauty of ex- 
pression; and we buy just useful vases, plain in 
design, yet harmonizing with the purpose for 
which they were intended. And then, there are 
those ugly vases chance gave us which attract 
attention by the inharmonious blending of colors. 
Which vase holds the flower of YOUR SOUL? 
Can any vase be too beautiful to hold the flower 
of the soul being GLORIFIED BY HIS PRES- 
ENCE? Should we not give the vase SPECIAL 
SPIRITUAL CARE? And that does NOT RE- 
FER TO VANITY, but purification, illumination, 
harmony. 

What sort of a HOME are we going to place 
THAT VASE IN? HOME! WHAT A WIDE 
BERTH for spiritual manifestation! This IS 
GOD'S HOUSE, expressing the perfection of in- 
terior wisdom, love, Divine principle, a sanctuary 
in which His PRESENCE would find solace in 
the KNOWLEDGE that His truths were mani- 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 61 

fested in that home; that His presence was 
KNOWN and felt. 

"Be ye not slothful in business :" and so on 
down the list of innumerable things. However, 
the theme is this : In the true sense of SPIRIT- 
UAL QUALITY the glorified spirit of man is out 
of harmony with the ordinary; the ordinary is 
lost when we seek the spiritual quality in it. The 
principle of being is an ever ready help in time 
of material chaos. The I AM will, with its power 
to RISE SUPREME TO MEET SUPREME, 
obliterate the ordinary, bringing to the surface 
the ILLUMINED PRESENCE OF GOD, with 
whom there are no diversity of ways. When we 
fully understand this guiding principle, we do not 
see things in the ordinary light of material vis- 
ion; the spiritual eye discerns the guiding prin- 
ciple that has made everything possible, inas- 
much as it has been spiritualized through the 
spiritual vision to a higher plane ; hence, we have 
the common phrase — EVOLUTION — which en- 
folds the power of THINGS as well as spirit in 
man. 

Everything has its ethereal correspondent, the 
mineral, the animal and the vegetable kingdom; 
these are in themselves revelations. It is a glori- 
fied thought that brings to our realization that 
somewhere this thing (table, chair, etc.) first 
found its being in the Garden of God ; that it was 
first given to us in the spirit of truth, its value 
recognized by man, and passed on. Spiritualized, 
first by the truth in it, then by labor, appreciation 
and intelligence. 



62 FACE TO FACE 

Thus the seeming phenomenal birth of fruit- 
age, vegetation, etc., are channels through which 
God sends His word to man with profits. Again, 
we have the co-mingling of the Divine and ma- 
terial. So must we learn to use, and not abuse, 
these things which have come to make their home 
with us ; these final triumphs of God and man. 

This chair has become a very happy expression 
in my life, so many have blessed it. It is but a 
chair, a thing, yet it came from the Garden of 
God, worked into expressive principle by man, 
and has power to give rest to the weary, for such 
is the gift of the spirit. Spirit is the beginning 
and the fullness thereof. THE SPIRIT OF 
GOD moved upon the face of the waters BE- 
FORE the world was created; Spirit is LIFE, 
ETERNAL LIFE. 

Blessed things, whate'er you be, 
Through triumph you have come to me! 

And yet, things should not be the theme in 
life, but respected in the true sense of spiritual 
quality. More good can come to us when we 
SEEK the truth in things. When we KNOW the 
truth we can accept them in positive content- 
ment. Everything has a beautiful side, a use- 
ful side, or a side that can be purified. To purify, 
enliven and quicken person, place or thing, is to 
demonstrate the truth for it, thus expressing our 
own spiritual quality of faith in works, or the 
exercise of truth that dwelleth within. Not tak- 
ing the form of worship, rather the form of 
thought in pure conscience. 






IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 63 

Man kills his development by the attitude he 
WILLS towards things. He cannot sit down in 
the gutter and develop, but if he will SEE HIS 
ABILITY to rise, and WILL himself to do it, 
he will soon see the beauty and pleasure it brings 
as well as advantages. 

"The continual whine of a dog brings evil," so 
they say. Yet it is not a comparison to the 
whine that springs from the soul filled with dis- 
content. It broods evil, yea, not for the one, but 
for many, for it yieldeth not grain or gain, but 
thorns that prod the flesh and pierce the veil of 
things debasing, leading down, down; the sink- 
ing sands; seeking, ever seeking, never finding, 
peace and happiness. 

The sun is rising, look! Beyond the sand, 
someone is calling. Who is it? It is the voice of 
the Heavenly Father. His beautiful hand sweeps 
upward, the bow of His promise flashes across 
the sky; the debased one beholds it and smiles; 
the chain of woe is broken. There can be no 
misery when God smiles at man, and man smiles 
back again, for something is born in the con- 
science of man; BEHOLD! It is His likeness 
and image reaching across the tide that calls all 
men— home. It is God's call TO PERFECTION 
answered. 

While we are roving in the world of things, I 
want to tell you of a little experience of mine. 
Not long ago it was my province to stop for a 
time in the home of Mr. Heckel, foreman of the 
Obediah Silk Factory. Mr. Heckel, wife and two 
daughters made up the household. The house 



64 FACE TO FACE 

stood in the center of a beautiful lawn; the ten- 
der care of trees and flowers made it a garden of 
dreams. I could not help but wonder why there 
seemed to be such great discontent. 

Involuntarily I looked out over the north fence ; 
a sign in red, black and white loomed in the sun 
like a menace. "LOOK OUT FOE THE CARS; 
RAILROAD CROSSING." I smiled as I wended 
my way back to the house. Can THAT BE 
THE THING that hangs like a shadow over this 
home! 

Promptly at six- thirty a gloom would fall over 
the household like a phantom; it haunted the 
very recesses of the two souls left at home. The 
father and elder daughter, Lottie, usually re- 
turned from their duties at the factory about this 
time. Lottie had endowed herself with an ugly, 
sulky temperament. The moment a whistle would 
sound, heralding an approaching train, she would 
whine, "Oh, it is just dreadful; it is a shame the 
way some people will insist on living in such a 
place." On and on she would whine until the 
father would join in: "I wish I could sell, but 
that is out of the question ; who wants to buy this 
house anyway. I wish I had never set eyes on 
the place." 

It would invariably end by Lottie putting on 
her hat and storming out of the house, the father 
following closely, while the other two were left 
to look on, the dear little mother biting her lip 
to keep back the tears. 

The two wanderers' conversation was quite dis- 
tinct to those left in the shadows. 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 65 

1 'Where are you going tonight, Lottie?" 

"Oh, to the park, I suppose; until some of the 
girls come by, then we will probably go to some 
show. Where are you going, father?" 

"Me? Oh, I'm going to Tom's place; where 
else could a fellow go and have peace from these 
trains?" 

This was indeed laughable to those left in the 
shadows, as Tom's place was much closer to the 
track than his own home. We could hear the men 
laugh as Mr. Heckel stumbled in the door of 
Tom's place: "Hello, Heckel, fallin' in ag'in, 
I see." 

Heckel could not remember the little step by 
the door in spite of his daily visits to Tom's. He 
gathered himself together, grumbling at Tom for 
not removing it, while Lottie wandered to the 
park. It was damp and foggy, it depressed her, 
she decided to return home. This was not a 
pleasant thought to Lottie, but there was really 
nothing else to do ; not any of the girls she knew 
would venture out in this fog. Yes, she would go 
home. 

With an angry frown Lottie paused in the 
shadow of a great tree that stood near the kitchen 
window. She did dread so to go in, yet the chill 
and damp were penetrating her very bones. 
Leaning wearily against a tree, she watched her 
mother and Grace perform the homely but neces- 
sary task of washing the dinner dishes. A look 
of concern came over her face as she listened : 

"Well, dear, do not mind Lottie's whims, she 
is just a little bit restless; her work is trying, 



66 FACE TO FACE 

and the whistle sounds twice as loud to her. We 
do not notice it so much because we do not get 
as tired as Lottie does, and THINGS bother her 
so." 

Lottie slipped down upon the soft turf, for- 
getting the damp and fog, listening, it seemed for 
hours, to the cheerful chatter of her mother and 
Grace. AND THINGS BOTHERED HER SO! 
"What was wrong with her? What was wrong 
with everybody? Why were Grace and her 
mother not in this cheerful frame of mind when 
SHE was in the house? 

But listen, what was mother saying: 

"You know, Grace, if father and Lottie would 
only stay at home in the evenings for a while, 
we could soon have a car and enjoy our evenings 
in the open together. It is hard, I know, to stay 
at home all the time. I have, for twenty-five 
years, without practically any recreation. I wish 
you would go with Lottie sometimes, Grace ; why 
don't you?" 

Grace caught her mother lovingly in her arms. 
"Not much, Muzzie; we are too happy here!" 

Lottie laid her head on the damp grass, her 
tears mingling with the dew. A car. Mother 
had been a shut-in for twenty-five years ! Some- 
thing was wrong, WRONG, and SHE was mak- 
ing it so. 

Lottie was a wonder in the world of the Obe- 
diah Silk Factory; far more active and brilliant 
was she than her sister Grace; and yet, what 
would they do without the convenient, quiet, 
home-loving Grace? 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 67 

A scream from her mother's lips startled Lot- 
tie to her feet. The mother was standing in the 
doorway wringing her hands and crying hyster- 
ically. By her side was Grace screaming: "0 
save him, SAVE HIM!" 

To take in a situation was to act with Lottie. 
The light from a sign-board told them of an 
approaching train; a shrill whistle affirmed it; 
on the track, too bewildered to move, was the 
father and husband. Lottie ran to him hastily, 
pushing him to safety. 

The approaching train thundered in Lottie's 
ears. Making a hasty plunge forward, she was 
horrified to find her shoe was caught. It was too 
late, the train thundered by, severing the little 
foot from the body. The father, horror stricken 
and fully conscious now, gathered her tenderly in 
his arms, the tears streaming down his face. 

Months went by; not a complaint from Lottie; 
not a night out for father. One morning Mr. 
Heckel came home to consult Lottie about getting 
a stenographer in her place, saying the new one 
had made a mess of it. Lottie, without a word, 
put on her hat, picked up her crutches and 
started towards the door. 

"Where are you going, Lottie?" asked Mrs 
Heckel. 

"To the factory, Mother." 

"I know, Lottie, you are well enough, but the 
crutches, and things, bother you so." 

"No, not now, mother. That whistle sounds 
good. I have discovered something. Do not 
allow things to play too great a part in your life 



68 FACE TO FACE 

as THINGS only, or they will maim you for life. 
The chance of getting back my position is my 
opportunity; I shall make the most of it." 

Mrs. Heckel looked lovingly after the little 
lame retreating figure, then turning to Grace, 
said: "Oh, there is such a difference between 
things material only and things spiritualized by 
EIGHT THINKING. THINGS are wonderful 
stumbling blocks when we permit them to dom- 
inate our better self. They soon lose their domi- 
nating power, however, when we recognize the 
spiritual truth within them." 

Things are strange, weird, seemly or unseemly; 
to some, natural gifts of God and man in which 
we take a reasonable amount of gratification or 
disgust, as we sense them; hence it is imperative 
that we see things through the spiritual eye, that 
we may ennoble our environment. We do not 
want to place our vase in a frog pond, you know. 

"In that ye also walked sometimes WHEN YE 
LIVED IN THEM, but now ye also put off all 
these: anger, malice, wrath, blasphemy; lie not 
to one another, seeing that ye have put off the 
old man and his deeds, and put on the NEW 
MAN, which is rendered in knowledge after the 
IMAGE OF HIM WHO CEEATED HIM. But 
let the peace of God rule in your hearts in that 
which ye are called in one body. Be ye thankful. 
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all 
wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in 
HYMNS and SPIRITUAL SONGS, singing with 
grace in your hearts to the Lord." "Whatsoever 
ye do, do ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus." 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 69 

"Rejoice evermore. Pray WITHOUT CEAS- 
ING; in EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS. 
QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT. Despise not pro- 
phet-saying, prove all things, hold fast that which 
is good, abstain from appearance of evil, and the 
VERY GOD OF PEACE SANCTIFY YOU 
WHOLLY. And I pray GOD your whole spirit 
and soul and body be preserved HARMLESS 
unto the coming of OUR LORD JESUS 
CHRIST." 

"But of the TIME and the SEASON ye have 
no need that I write unto you, for you yourselves 
know perfectly the DAY of the Lord cometh as a 
thief in the night, and we have confidence in the 
Lord TOUCHING YOU; that ye both DO and 
WILL DO the things which we command you; 
and the Lord direct your hearts unto the love of 
God, and unto the patient waiting for Christ, 
looking for the blessed hope and glorious appear- 
ing of the GREAT GOD AND OUR SAVIOUR, 
JESUS CHRIST, WHO GAVE HIMSELF for 
us that He might redeem us from ALL iniquity 
and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zeal- 
ous of good works." 

"But avoid foolish questions and contamina- 
tions; strivings about law, for they are unprofit- 
able and vain." "And we have seen and do 
testify that the Father sent the SON TO BE 
SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD. Whosoever CON- 
FESSES THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD 
DWELLETH IN HIM, and he in God." 

"And we have known and believed the love 
GOD HATH to us." "GOD IS LOVE, and he 



70 FACE TO FACE 

that dwelleth in LOVE dwelletli in GOD and GOD 
in him. Herein is our LOVE MADE PERFECT : 
that we may have boldness in the day of judg- 
ment, because as He, so are WE, IN THIS 
WORLD." 

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love 
casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. HE 
THAT FEARETH IS NOT MADE PERFECT 
IN LOVE." 

The workings of truth are phenomenal in 
nature, and yet so natural that phenomena holds 
no place in the mind of one who works miracles. 
"IN GOD WE TRUST," the HOPE OF 
GLORY, the BUILDER OF SPIRITUAL 
THINGS. Phenomena is the demonstrating 
power of the GODHEAD, unto our knowledge of 
HIS miracles unto which we have access through 
OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. 

It is not only a happy STATE OF MIND TO 
BE IN to KNOW the phenomenal nature of 
things through His love and truth, but it adds 
materially to the value of things, eliminating the 
coarser hold with which man sometimes grasps 
things. 

Things are dynamic by nature; real surprises 
await us at times in them. By holding truth in 
the sense of calm judgment, we accomplish mir- 
acles; we illuminate them with truth; we pre- 
serve them without chaotic effect. Never was 
spirit set free concerning the reason, in reason, 
of phenomenal power. Active in things like a 
bird set free, does the mind grasp the cause; the 
remedy comes spontaneously. 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 71 

The Cross of Calvary is as good an illustration 
as one could wish, demonstrating things spirit- 
ualized. The world needed Christ at that time; 
it still needs Christ, the REDEEMER OP MEN. 
What profit it withal if we have not opened the 
door to spiritual things, when the Spirit stands 
waiting to show us the GLORY WITHIN? Why 
linger around the melting pot of worldly theories 
when truth itself is the SUBSTANCE within? 

The stirring of a soul proves its Maker. When 
man ceases to strive with carnal things then will 
he find his soul filled with holy light, by which 
he may see the true worth of things that make 
up the Garden of God. 

INGERSOLL: "Payne denied the inspiration 
of the scriptures. That was his crime.' ' 

LOTUS : "All the scripture IS given by the in- 
spiration of God, and IS profitable for doctrine, 
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in 
righteousness, that the man of God may be PER- 
FECT, THOROUGHLY FURNISHED unto all 
good works, in meekness instructing those who 
oppose themselves. If God pervert we will give 
them repentance to the acknowledgment of the 
truth, and that they may recover themselves out 
of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive 
by him at his will." The works of God are all 
electro evolution. 

INGERSOLL: "What person with common 
sense would attempt to settle any question by a 
text from the Bible?" 

LOTUS: Any reasonable person would. Are 
they not given for INSTRUCTION in RIGHT- 



72 FACE TO FACE 

EOUSNESS? The Bible is a liberator of free- 
dom, of true spiritual worth, true moral worth, 
and is an infallible principle by which we may 
endorse our checks. It is the harp upon which 
the touch of the Infinite harmonizes, the uni- 
versal chord of immortal construction. 

When people oppose us they are, in a measure, 
our enemies. They use their gas tanks to deprive 
us of our reason, and then demand an illumined 
reply. God's word brought to bear upon them 
ejects the poisonous vapor and infuses the great- 
est of all principles, TEUTH, upon which His 
word is built. There is not a chord struck in the 
human heart more subtle, more comforting, than 
Infinite love. The Bible teaches it from cover to 
cover. The Bible teaches truth; it teaches Chris- 
tian Endeavor that has no selfish principles, no 
morbid theories, but FACTS— just plain FACTS, 
the very thing the infidel is crying for. 

Funny, isn't it, that the infidel stands with one 
foot in Heaven and the other in Hell and cries, 
"Who am I? What am I?" while the fires of hell 
consume him? Strong language you say, and you 
do not believe in hell, and you think it is a sin to 
preach hell. 

Man carries within his own soul the fires of 
hell when he manifests the LESSEE MAN. The 
infidel does this because he refuses to see HIS 
LIKENESS AND IMAGE. 

Love and doubt are not sisters or brothers; 
nay, not parent, but at cross purposes one with 
the other. Love casteth out fear. "GOD IS 
LOVE." When we place the WOED OF GOD 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 73 

against doubt, we destroy the power of doubt 
with our faith. 

"Thy faith hath made thee whole.' ' 

INGERSOLL: " Payne contended that it is 
contradiction in terms to call anything a revela- 
tion that comes second handed.' ' 

LOTUS: To take this statement literally, our 
lives are pretty generally spent under the juris- 
diction of others, hence, second-handed from the 
beginning unto the end. We live by the in- 
struction and training of others until we are 
grown ; after that, we are more or less controlled 
by the minds of those higher up ; and so we drift 
with the tide until our individuality is lost, or 
partially so, in the swirl of human welfare. 

Our chief desire in life is to become indepen- 
dent; to be a controlling force, in place of being 
controlled; but the way out is not an easy one. 
However, when we are sufficiently enlightened 
to reason without malice, we DO become a con- 
trolling force over the little self, and assert the 
God man. This brings us into our own. In 
place of a lost personality we have a strong will, 
in tune with the best and highest, which demands 
the best in return. 

We are then sought, and not seeking; strong, 
and not weak ; worthy, and not unworthy subjects 
of the Kingdom. When we assert our true self 
with God at the helm, we are enabled to see the 
light of individuality; first, the individual self 
that governs self to the exclusion of all; second, 
the individual SPIRIT in self capable of meet- 
ing the Divine, in which inspiration is found. 



74 FACE TO FACE 

The word of God is never second-handed to those 
at-one with God. 

Though we find truth through the heart of the 
rose it is sweet, it is fragrant, it is beautiful. It 
has a power all its own, reminding us that with 
the sweet we must take the bitter that "trieth 
the heart/' strengthening it in righteousness, 
thereby giving sustenance. 

Love is supremely Divine; it is tempestuous 
argury; it is beautiful, and it sometimes comes 
by proxy, because man is attuned to meet it in no 
other way. 

Were we not to receive ANYTHING second- 
handed, we would glean but few of the comfort- 
ing messages that come to us through thousands 
of channels. We would be sealed in, away from 
all but the little self. We would become narrow, 
stale, brushed aside as the falling leaves of 
Autumn. 

The BIBLE IS THE REDEEMING FORCE 
that sways mankind to the haven of rest. God 
giveth to all men liberty, and truly the liberty 
to think, but has commanded that we do ALL 
IN THE NAME OF JESUS. This is the point 
upon which so manv err — DO ALL IN THE 
NAME OF JESUS— WHY NOT? HE IS THE 
RISEN CHRIST, THE SUPREME FORCE, 
SPIRIT. It is going to the FOUNTAIN- 
HEAD FOR OUR SUPPLY. Here is the mean- 
ing fullv demonstrated: "Seek ye FIRST the 
Kingdom and His RIGHTEOUSNESS, and ALL 
ELSE shall be added unto you." Seeking the 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 75 

Kingdom FIRST is the BECKONING LIGHT 
OF REASON. 

The infidel is not in tune with the INFINITE, 
hence he strikes a false note. To him a rose is 
just a flower. He smiles at its color and fra- 
grance, whips up his horse and canters on. He 
does not see the sublime, the mother's care and 
pruning that it may give pleasure daily to her 
loved ones. He does not see the blushing bride 
within its curling buds. He does not see the 
soldiers' graves where the falling petals take 
the place of the gentle touch of loved ones across 
the sea. He does not see the light upon the face 
of the dying; nor does he see the hand of God 
pointing to the heart of gold within its tiny fra- 
grant folds. The Divine to him is lost, hence the 
substance of all. It is but a crude production to 
his sense of seeing. 

Infidelism is the worm in the heart of the 
rose. It shatters, it does not build; it takes all 
the beautiful, not to profit withal but to debase ; it 
leaves the bush a prey for the wasp's nest. 

Inspiration and revelation come FIRST- 
HANDED to those who are ATTUNED to re- 
ceive them, no matter how many channels they 
have passed through. Being WILLING to re- 
ceive is NOT ENOUGH. We must be willing 
to GO THROUGH THE PURIFYING process- 
that of being BORN AGAIN IN spiritual truth; 
willing to enact that truth; willing to TAKE ON 
THE NEW MAN and leave off the old MAN 
and his deeds. 



76 FACE TO FACE 

REASONING PRINCIPLES CAN BE OBLITERATED 
THROUGH DOUBT 

Inspiration does not descend upon the heads of 
those who seek to SEVER THE TIE THAT 
BINDS. 

IMBIBING deep of His love, letting it reflect 
in the world around you, is one of the FIRST 
PRINCIPLES, a GREAT QUALITY, IN THE 
PURIFYING PROCESS. Where DIVINE 
LOVE dwelleth THERE is inspiration, TRUTH 
made manifest in man. As a mirror reflects the 
sunshine, so is the countenance filled with Holy 
Light. You will see yourself coming around the 
corner of life like a whirlwind of material things ; 
or, you will drink the refreshing life-giving rain- 
drops of spirituality ; just as you make it. 

Second-hand inspiration is a peculiar find. It 
may come in a flood of light, or it may descend as 
a dove on the shoulders of time. The question is 
this: Can your spiritual CONDITION TELL 
YOU whether the TRUTH rests in it or not, in- 
different to the number of channels it has to pass 
through? Can you find a responding chord with- 
in? A chord that finds its correspondent in an 
Infinite Being, GOD, the Creator of man? Can 
you look LONG and DEEP in the well of truth 
and find your reflection there? 

God's word cannot be consumed with the fires 
of infidelism: It is INDESTRUCTIBLE. It 
has a POWER that refuses to weaken, a LIGHT 
that will never burn low. Divine Love IS the in- 
exhaustible force from which mankind draws sus- 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 77 

tenance. It is LIFE to those who believe in 
HIM. Can the infidel give us a greater assur- 
ance? 

This assurance comes to us through the Scrip- 
tures (if you will) but I like the word BIBLE. 
It sounds so secure, so personal, so assuring. It 
is NOT some remote thing, but a LIVING- 
PRESENCE. It is alluring, SOUL STIRRING. 
"But," says the infidel, "it is so contradictory." 
Nay, methinks not so, the SUBSTANCE remains 
the same. 

No two people ever gave an account of an in- 
cident in the same exact terms. Send six men to 
a ball game; ask them ALL about it. The only 
account they will give you in the same terms, is 
WHO WON; the rest will be original narratives. 

"But," the infidel cries, "the Bible was in- 
spired by ONE God, hence it should be EXACT 
accounts." 

God teaches in language, expression and 
themes, that may be best understood by the re- 
cipient individual, or individuals. THE POWER 
OF THE INNER MAN, the capabilities of EX- 
PRESSING the inner man, is not always attuned. 
A GREAT SOUL may lack expression of that 
soul in AUDIBLE or written terms, and yet that 
great soul's power be felt. 

Water does not always cover the banks. God 
is consistent in all His ways ; he would hardly in- 
spire a Hebrew to write Indian ; nor would he ad- 
vise a Chinaman to build a tepee. He would tell 
him in a language that he could understand, 



78 FACE TO FACE 

though the substance be the same. "God works 
in wondrous ways His miracles to perform," and 
His ways are the ways of wisdom. 

When man more fully realizes that GOD IS 
FULL OF UNDERSTANDING, His work com- 
ing to us through His transmitter (the Bible), we 
will have ADDED COUEAGE and inspiration, a 
more ABUNDANT FAITH, and the SUPPLY of 
love that mankind is NOW seeking. He will see 
ILLUMINATED WOEDS of God; not some re- 
mote, so-called revengeful God, but a GOD FULL 
OF LOVE and understanding. It is man that 
errs and not God, not the inspiration of the 
Bible. 

We do not teach the child in the crib arith- 
metic. It is not as yet capable of reasoning; it 
has not the physical strength to hold slate and 
pencil. We teach the child love by EXPEESS- 
ING love. The child does not understand the 
word love, but it responds quickly to the act of 
love. So God infuses the substance of His word 
into the fertile brain of those whom He has en- 
dowed to receive it. God reaches ALL man- 
kind. 

It has often been said that no two people 
can get the same meaning out of a passage in 
the Bible. And this I doubt; not because it seems 
unreasonable, but because man is not so dense 
that he does not KNOW SOME of the TEUTH 
when he finds it. In truth is God. When God is 
found, understanding is complete. Understand- 
ing has but one meaning— AT-ONE-MENT. This 
cannot be of many hues, but the one great sun of 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 79 

light. We have day and we have night. These 
two blend into one another in perfect harmony, 
as the soul attuned to the Infinite blends into 
ONE— PEEFECT— WHOLE. The Divine sub- 
stance of His presence is everywhere. 

If those striving on this earth for a new truth 
would only open the doors of their souls to the 
Divine inflow, truth — both old and new — would 
bring to the lives and hearts of man liberty; to 
the world, PEACE. If we walk in the spirit of 
truth, let us also live in the spirit of love. Wis- 
dom is the undertone of spirit, manifesting spirit 
in truth. 

What is it then, "I will PEAY WITH THE 
SPIKIT, and I will PRAY WITH THE UNDER- 
STANDING ALSO, when the unlearned say 
'Amen' at the giving of thanks, seeing that they 
understand not what thou sayest. It is written 
the first man Adam was made a living soul. 
The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 
How be it that was not first which is spiritual 
but that which is natural, and afterward that 
which is spiritual?" 

First : Natural — the wisdom found in nature ; 
then spiritual — wisdom causing the spiritual to 
be glorified. Spirit is natural first, then spiritual- 
ized, thus becoming a TUNEFUL MELODY in 
DIVINE HARMONY, EMBRACING ALL 
LAWS OF GOD AND NATURE; THE NAT- 
URAL GOAL OF MAN; THE SUPREMACY 
FOUND IN ATTUNED SPIRIT; THE COM- 
PLETENESS, THE FULLNESS OF HEAVEN. 

" Beloved, think it NOT STRANGE concerning 



80 FACE TO FACE 

the FIERY TEIAL which is to try you, as though 
some strange thing happened you." 

All phenomena comes from intelligence, 
whether the object causing the phenomena is 
CONSCIOUS of it or not. In all things is the 
breath (spirit) of God, the wonderful life ex- 
pressed in all things, and yet, natural. Phenom- 
ena is but the RESULT OF NATURAL FOR- 
CES that man has not attuned himself to see as 
natural. 

"He that abideth in the secret places of the 
most High shall abide under the shadow of the 
ALMIGHTY." 

"I will say of the Lord He is my refuge and 
my strength; IN HIM WILL I TRUST." 

"KEEP FAITH WITH WORKS THAT YE 
MAY REPLENISH MANKIND WITH SPIR- 
ITUAL TRUTHS." 

"How beautiful are the feet of them that 
preach the gospel of peace and bring forth glad 
tiding of good things." 

INGERSOLL: "Payne denied conclusively 
the DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRIST, and yet he 
believed that Christ was a virtuous and amiable 
man, that the morality He taught and practiced 
was the most benevolent, and that He had not 
been exceeded by any." 

LOTUS: Payne, like many another, is willing 
to take his fill of the half loaf and when his 
appetite is appeased throw away the other half, 
leaving nothing for the morrow. When the com- 
ing day dawns, there is a gnawing hunger for the 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 81 

half loaf he threw away. A partial truth is NO 
TRUTH AT ALL. 

The DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRIST WAS A 
REVELATION, an inspiration. It demonstrated 
fully THE POWER OF SPIRIT OVER MAT- 
TER. 

Again and again, if I might, I would repeat, 
GOD IS A SUPREME FORCE, PERSONAL 
by nature, DIVINE in character, a DIVINE 
WHOLE that embodies spirit. "GOD IS A 
SPIRIT" that took on the form of man to en- 
noble and save mankind. HE IS THE RISEN 
CHRIST! He came from a DIVINE PRIN- 
CIPLE through which mankind evolutionizes 
from sphere to sphere. 

INGERSOLL: "The Christians now claim 
that JESUS WAS GOD. If he was, of course 
the devil knew that fact, and yet according to the 
account, the devil took the omnipotent God and 
placed Him upon the pinnacle of a temple and 
tried to induce Him to dash Himself against the 
earth. Failing this he took the Creator, owner 
and governor of the world and placed Him upon 
an exceedingly high mountain and offered Him 
this earth, this grain of sand, if he would fall 
down and worship Him. Poor devil, without 
even a tax title to one foot of earth! Is it pos- 
sible the devil was such an idiot?" 

LOTUS : It takes no great master mind, no 
great theologian, to answer Ingersoll this. Again 
does he look only in a material sense. Like 
magic the answer springs from First Timothy: 



82 FACE TO FACE 

"Not because we have not the power, but to make 
ourselves an EXAMPLE unto YOU to follow.' ' 
God permitted the devil to take Him up in the 
mountain that we might see the TEUTH IN 
HIM; by so doing, he made an example before 
the world that we might follow — that of over- 
coming evil with good — hence, "Get thee behind 
me, Satan.' ' 

Children are best taught by example, for "Are 
ye not children of your Father which is in 
Heaven?" Jesus did not antagonize evil. HIS 
WEAPON WAS LOVE ; LOVE OVEECOMETH 
THE WOELD. 

The devil did not take Jesus up on the high 
mountain in truth. He sought weakness, and 
found to his astonishment the POWEEFUL EX- 
AMPLE of the ALMIGHTY GOD. The devil 
pitted his conceit against the truth. THE KING- 
DOM WAS SOUGHT FOE US when God per- 
mitted himself to be led up on the mountain. 
What are WE GOING TO DO TO OBTAIN IT? 

"And the light shineth in darkness, and the 
darkness comprehended it not." 

"Let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, 
neither with leaven of malice and wickedness, but 
with the unleavened bread of sincerity and 
truth." 

"But have removed the hidden things of dis- 
honesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling 
the word of God deceitfully, but by MANIFES- 
TATION of the truth, commending ourselves to 
EVEEY MAN'S CONSCIENCE IN THE SPIE- 
IT OF GOD." 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 83 

"And they bend their tongues like the bows 
for lay, for they are not VALIANT FOR THE 
TRUTH UPON THE EARTH, for they proceed 
from EVIL TO EVIL, for they know NOT ME, 
SAITH THE LORD, WHO WOULD HAVE 
ALL MEN TO BE SAVED, and to come into 
the KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH." 

TRUTH is the Whippoorwill that sings spring 
into the hearts of men. 

A WEE PARABLE AND A GREAT TRUTH 

A little child wandered over the grounds sur- 
rounding a country mansion. Growing very 
weary, she lay down near the dog kennel ; laying 
her head lovingly on old Towser's back, she soon 
fell soundly asleep. Her little brother Norman 
hunted long for her. Failing to find her, he sat 
down under a tree trying to think where she 
might be. "Whippoorwill, Whippoorwill," came 
lustily from somewhere near by. Norman sprang 
to his feet, running to the house as fast as his 
little fat body would carry him. 

"Mother, Oh, mother! Bessie must be some 
place she ought not to be, 'cause somepin in the 
air told me to Whip-her-well ! " 

The mother tried to explain. It was lost on 
Norman, however, for he ran excitedly from the 
house, bumping right into his Uncle Will. 

"Have you seen Bessie?" was Norman's ex- 
cited greeting. 

"Well, no, why!" 

"Well, she is some place she ought not to be, 
'cause somepin told me." 



84 FACE TO FACE 

Uncle Will asked him to tell him quietly what 
had told him. Norman was almost too excited 
to talk, but finally said: 

"Oh, somepin said, ' Whip-her-well. ' " 

Uncle Will laughed heartily, much to Nor- 
man's disgust, and then asked Norman if he had 
ever seen the Whippoorwill's sister, the Chuck- 
wills-widow, and their cousin, the Night-Gar? 

"Oh, oh," said Norman, "are there more than 
one of these things?" 

He hurried away, calling back over his shoul- 
der: "If there are so many of those things I had 
better go get her quick." 

He did not go far until he stopped short, for 
there was Bessie peacefully sleeping on old 
Towser's back. He tugged at her dress until she 
awoke, then he took her to the house shouting: 

"Mother, moth-er, that fellow up in the tree 
DID tell me the truth. Sister was some place 
she ought not to be. She was a-takin' a nap on 
old Towser's back." 

But mother said, "You know, Norman, that 
Towser would not hurt my little one." 

' ' I know, mother, but it was such a funny place 
for her to go to sleep." 

"That is not an unnatural thing for her to 
do, dear. The innocent see only the faithful dog; 
not the barking, biting dog." 

After a while the puzzled little Norman went 
back to the tree and fell upon the grass, his little 
arms folded under his head. He wanted to think 
it all out. Tired of thinking he was soon in 
dreamland. Three little birds with high silk hats 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 85 

on and carrying canes under their wings, came 
close to the slumbering Norman and doffed their 
hats to him. 

"How do you do, little boy. We come here 
every day to see you, but you do not see us be- 
cause you are too busy playing to notice us. We 
will not blame you one bit for your discourtesy, 
though. This, if you please, is Mr. Whippoor- 
will; this is Mrs. Night-Gar; and this is my cou- 
sin; Miss Chuckwills-widow. " 

"Can I do anything for you?" said Miss 
Chuckwills-widow. 

"I don't know, maybe," said Norman. "Why 
did my little sister go to sleep on old Towser's 
back?" 

The birdies whispered together a moment and 
then chanted : 

"Little Norman, do not fear; 

It kills the truth in love, my dear." 

Who does not love the simple stories of child- 
hood? There is no greater song sung in the 
heart of a little child than the pure trusting con- 
fidence it shows towards those who incite its in- 
terest, whatever the nature of that interest mav 
be. 

We smile when we hear a child expressing 
truth, though it be in fiction ; and yet, we pass by 
the blush of the rose, which is expressing truth 
as earnestly and beautifully as the child. 

Truth is ever present. We have not as yet 
learned how to meet it. We are too apt to 
search for an onion in the orchid bed. One of the 



86 FACE TO FACE 

most beautiful realities is TRUTH expressed in 
LITTLE THINGS, whether it comes in parables 
or whether it descends as the peace of night up- 
on our heads. It is there, and it is beautiful. 
No work of art can compare to the magnificent 
grandeur of a life lived in truth. To live in truth 
is to create a beautiful ethereal atmosphere 
around us, painting pictures of which mortal man 
cannot conceive. 

God is a SUPREME FORCE; this includes 
spirit; spirit is TRUTH. God is PERSONAL 
by nature. "God is Love." God is life. These 
have substance. Truth, then, is LIFE; more, it 
is EVERLASTING LIFE, when expressed in the 
power of Divine love. 

God is a spirit. Spirit never dies. To enact 
truth, as well as to obtain it, should be our great- 
est aim in life. If mankind will not accept aid 
from on high, he will not acknowledge the truth 
even within his OWN being. God trieth the 
heart, but He refineth the gold. When truth 
finds its proper setting, it can sparkle away, 
KNOWING it IS pure gold; and others will 
KNOW, and others will HEED, and others will 
DO. 

"Go your ways, I send you forth as lambs 
among wolves. Carry neither purse or scrip, nor 
shoes, and salute no man by the way. And into 
whatsoever house ve enter FIRST SAY: 
'PEACE BE UNTO THIS HOUSE,' and if the 
Son of Peace be there, your peace shall rest 
upon it ; if NOT, it shall return to YOU AGAIN 
and shall HEAL THE SICK and thev that are 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 87 

therein, and say unto them the KINGDOM OF 
GOD HAS COME UNTO YOU." 

Again we find the law of attraction. As we 
THINK, SO SHALL IT BE, unto others as well 
as self. When we go about our Father's busi- 
ness our own power is quickened. As we give, 
so shall we receive. man, awake! Why sleep- 
est thou in the ignorance of thy will? 

Again, truth is a great convenience. It oblit- 
erates fear; it closes the door to chaos, thus en- 
abling us to feel a certain amount of JOYFUL 
INDEPENDENCE. It is inconvenient NOT to 
live in truth. It is apt to bring a lot of pictures 
on the wall we had rather not see. One little 
untruth bites the heel of another little untruth 
until a long chain of untruths is forged into 
FACT, hence crimes are bred in very little cells. 

On the other hand, when we live in truth, there 
is the spirit of rest and peace singing away with- 
in our soul; a JOY we would not TAKE 
WOELDS FOR. It is a bit of the Cross mortal, 
man carries, OVERCOMING THE SPIRIT OF 
TEMPTATION. " HE WHO WILL NOT PICK 
UP THE CROSS AND FOLLOW ME, CAN- 
NOT BE MY DISCIPLE." It is worth trying 
for, it is worth WORKING FOR, PRAISE BE ! 

Truth is the conveyance that carries us to the 
heights, unmindful of the ruts and thorny ways. 
It is a safe conveyance, for at the end of the 
journey we shall find spirit IS TRUTH, and we 
want to meet it fairly. 

Another great comfort that leads into innum- 
erable conveniences is this: When we KEEP 



88 FACE TO FACE 

looking towards the heights we find love welling 
in our hearts for all mankind, and we seek their 
WELFARE AS WELL AS OUR OWN. LOVE 
OVERCOMETH the world, though the whole 
world seemingly be against thee. When we look 
with love to the welfare of our fellow man, sooner 
or later love is going to find response, and it is 
indeed convenient to be loved; it is the FULL- 
NESS OF ALL. 

"No greater love hath any man than he lay 
down his life for a friend." 

Christ, in the fullness of His love, gave life 
to ALL MANKIND. Can we give one-tenth as 
much to our fellow man? 

God said, "LET THERE BE LIGHT, and 
there WAS light." The power of expressive 
principles directed towards the object desired, 
has been taught us FROM THE BEGINNING. 
Why then tarry! "Go thou, and do likewise." 

Anything of value must begin through the 
power of expression, whether it be in thought or 
the spoken word. The sword of unrest cannot 
cleave the flesh until the mind is laid bare of 
armor. The robin cannot sing until something 
within calls forth the song. The instrument must 
have the touch of expression before it can peal 
forth its melody. Man must call forth the ex- 
pressive principles would he conquer worlds. 
MAN, thou knowest not thine own inborn power, 
thine own DIVINE RIGHT to WILL into exist- 
ence things needful unto thee. To WILL into 
existence any given thing, is to FIRST SEEK 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 89 

THE KINGDOM AND HIS RIGHTEOUS- 
NESS, and ALL THINGS NEEDFUL SHALL 
BE ADDED UNTO YOU. 

Through DIVINE WILL the world was created. 

"I, of myself, can do nothing. 7 ' 

He who is victor must do the work of HIM 
WHO HATH SENT HIM. "Ye fools, did ye 
not know that Pie that made that which is WITH- 
OUT, made that which was WITHIN also?" 

ONE GREATER THAN I 

No more beautiful truth exists in the Garden 
of God than nature's dreams; the kind of dreams 
that slumber in the hearts of the innocent. In- 
spiration is born in the budding soul from which 
countless well-springs of truth, love and mercy 
are revealed in the character of a child from day 
unto day. One of the greatest charms in the Gar- 
den of God is the infallible truth that teaches the 
child through nature's dreams that love DOES 
NOT KILL. 

Innocence plays like the wind with things man 
fear to touch. 

Innocence stood midst the Garden of God play- 
ing with beasts, birds, flowers and creeping 
things. These held the same theme for the inno- 
cent one; they were all beautiful, all had the 
secret call of attune-meni A chubby hand caught 
a golden butterfly, two blue eyes looked heaven- 
ward; had the butterfly lived so long in the sun- 
shine that its wings had caught the gold? The 
blue eyes dropped low with the wonder of it. 
There at his feet grew buttercups in profusion; 



90 FACE TO FACE 

' * more gold," breathed innocence; "harmony of 
purpose," whispered nature's dreams. 

The tiny hand relaxed; the butterfly fluttered 
unharmed from the dimpled hand that had held it 
prisoner. "Fly away, fly away," cried the soul 
of truth: "gather upon thy wings the freedom 
that is born in the heart of the innocent." 

Two blue eyes again searched the sky. "0, 
where is my sun now?" Anguished tears flowed 
o'er the buttercups. "But see," whispered na- 
ture's dreams, "the buttercups keep the gold, 
while the clouds turn into watering-pots. Canst 
thou not see how it dips, dips; how tenderly the 
drops fall, refreshing them?" 

"And that is THY mission, dear — to refresh 
humanity when material clouds gather; holding 
the gold before their eyes that they may remem- 
ber "God trieth the heart" to make them 
stronger, sweeter, more pure, that they may in- 
herit the Kingdom." 

"Aye, that is good," cried innocence, "but my 
butterfly will get its wings wet, and then it can- 
not fly." 

"Come," said nature's dreams. Step by step 
he led innocence to a nearby tree. ' ' Thinkest thou 
God hast forgotten, fair one? Thy beautiful but- 
terfly is safe; see how snugly its leaf raincoat 
fits? See the contentment peeping from his little 
eyes?" 

"It is true," cried innocence, "it is true. God 
does NOT forget." 

"Snap, snap, snap." Innocence, startled be- 
yond words, turned to run away, stumbling over 



IN THE GARDEN OF GOD 91 

the very thing he was running from. Stooping, 
he picked up the snapping turtle. "How funny 
you are, you foolishest thing, to snap and snap 
at me; I would not harm thee." 

A long neck upon which sat a strange little 
head, came popping out of its shell; two beady 
eyes looked long and searchingly into a pair of 
blue. Love shown, and confidence found a home. 
"0, I see," said the innocent one; "THAT is the 
way God has given thee to tell me not to take 
too many liberties with thee, eh? Ah, 'tis good." 

Blub-b-lu-b. Innocence placed friend turtle ten- 
derly on the ground, and then bent low over the 
little brook from whence the blubbering sound 
had come. BEHOLD! he saw reflected there — 
"His likeness and image." The shower had 
passed ; as the sun burst forth, throwing a golden 
halo o'er the water, the image grew more beauti- 
ful. 

Two tiny hands reached down to catch the sil- 
ver fish blubbering and playing so happily in the 
fresh cool water. A tiny foot slipped; Wisdom 
came close, gathering the innocent one in his 
great strong arms. Silently they stood watching 
until the stars came out. "God is lighting His 
lamps, dear, that the path may be made safe for 
us." Two little arms stole around the neck of 
Wisdom, a little head lay trustfully on his 
shoulder, a soft little sigh breathed content. The 
powerful form of Wisdom crunched the twigs be- 
neath his feet as they passed on, through the 
Garden of God. 

The air grew sweet with the fragrance of san- 



92 FACE TO FACE 

dalwood; voices came from afar off singing na- 
ture's dreams. Two blue eyes closed in peaceful 
slumber. Wisdom trod on carrying his precious 
burden into the great open field; a soft form 
brushed them by. "Ha, ha!" cried Wisdom, "I 
have no bow and arrow, why dost thou fear me, 
wild thing? This is the Garden of God; in it 
TEUTH abideth and thou art safe." The wild 
thing paused ; love vibrating in the voice of Wis- 
dom gave it confidence ; it came close, licking the 
feet of Innocence. "Come," said Wisdom, "we 
are at the end of our journey and This is the 
house of LOVE." So saying he threw wide the 
portals; BEHOLD ONE GEEATEE than I! The 
one greater than I, bared His hands and feet; 
blood flowed freely o'er the path that Innocence 
and Wisdom had trod. Innocence looked, shud- 
dered, two blue eyes closed. Again Innocence 
turned his head to behold the bleeding hands 
and feet; and LO!— THEY WEEE HEALED. 
Two astonished eyes again wandered down the 
path Wisdom had trod. Yea, 'twas true — EOSES 
GEEW where blood had flowed; BEHOLD THE 
TEUTH— IN THE GAEDEN OF GOD ! 

The sweet incense of peace stole o'er them and 
they slept — a soft voice whispered a lullaby — 
" 'Tis I— be not afraid." 

Voices in the far off were singing nature's 
dreams. The camels were contentedly chewing 
the cud of Madrigal; stars peeped through fleet- 
ing clouds, the trees whispered assurance, but 
"NOT ANY TEEES in the Garden of God were 
like unto HIM IN BEAUTY." 



CHAPTER II 
WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 

A WEE BIT OF HEAVEN 

A wee bit of heaven fell from the clouds one day, 
Slipped right into my soul — and then away. 

I felt the warmth and sunshine of a brighter day, 
I forgot the sting of death, it was far away. 

There arose a Glory, the like I had ne'er seen 

before 
It was the "burning bush," and, it was more. 

There arose amidst it a form so wondrous bright, 
It illumined all the world with its Holy light. 

"Put off thine shoes from off thine feet, for this 
Is Holy ground"; child I insist, do not resist. 

I sang songs of yester years, and then do say, 
I was lifted in a chariot, drawn by horses gay. 

I sailed the Red Sea over, I saw the parting of 

the way, 
The sun set in its glory, in my heart it left a ray. 

I wondered, Could I be an angel? to ride thus 

o'er the sea, 
I looked about, but not another angel, looked — 

like me. 



94 FACE TO FACE 

Softly, I slipped back to earth, glanced about, 

and then — 
Found angel blossoms growing in the hearts of 

men! 

EXALTED PRAYER 

INGEESOLL: "Thousands ask God to be 
protected from the devil; some, like David, pray 
for revenge; and some implore God not to lead 
them into temptation. All these prayers rest 
upon, and are produced by, the idea that some 
power not only can, but will, change the order of 
the universe.' ' 

LOTUS : The power of love is the only thing 
that will ever change the conditions of the uni- 
verse. Until "Love thy neighbor as thyself' ' is 
put into practical application and is made a 
statutory law in the land, so to speak, we cannot 
hope for any great change. Unselfish love is the 
foundation of peace. 

When we seek aid from on high, we are not 
satisfied to ask once and then TEUST for the 
fulfillment; no, we keep on asking, much as the 
child does for candy. 

Nature does not ask; it LIVES in the boun- 
teous supply of NOW. "Consider the lilies of 
the field, how they grow ; they toil not, neither do 
they spin, yet I say unto you that even Solomon 
in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these.' ' 

Nature meets nature in the Divine presence of 
its Creator. When we learn to meet Him there, 
our supply will be more apparent to us. In the 






WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 95 

minds of the ignorant, the silver thread of the 
Divine is ever spinning; it will eventually CON- 
SUME IGNORANCE, whether it be in genera- 
tions to come or now. 

"That at the name of Jesus every knee shall 
bow of THINGS OF HEAVEN, and THINGS 
OF EARTH, and THINGS UNDER THE 
EARTH, and that every tongue shall confess that 
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.' ' 

The trouble is that most prayers are sent forth 
from hollow souls. Prayer is a tonic for the 
soul, a beverage for the body, an adequate 
FORCE in affairs; it is recreation from the 
world of things; it is a God-given right to one 
and all without respect of persons. There is not 
one who has tasted the cup of HONEST prayer 
that will not repeat it sometime in the course of 
their lives. 

When universal love is expressed in the FULL- 
NESS of its beauty, temptations will be met and 
conquered through the mighty unity of thought; 
prayer universal will so uplift the human race 
that God's purpose will be complete, for has He 
not said: "I say unto you, LOVE YOUR 
ENEMIES, bless them that curse you and them 
that hate you, and pray for them that despite- 
fully use you and persecute you"? This is an- 
other scientific truth contained in the Bible; a 
metaphysical law; the foundation of New 
Thought, science, etc., and yet, just the old 
truth after all. The Bible CANNOT be improved 
on; it cannot be changed to meet the ideas of 



96 FACE TO FACE 

man. Man must revert to the PLAIN TEUTH 
IN THE BIBLE before lie CAN MEET HIS 
IDEALS. 

"Be therefore not like unto them: for your 
Father knoweth what things ye have need of, 
BEFORE ye ask Him. After this manner 
therefore pray ye, 'Our Father which art in 
heaven — ' " What solace, what joy rekindles 
again and again in the hearts of those who ' ' pray 
with understanding also"! 

"Let the spirit of God dwell within you 
richly." Here is the solution to the purpose of 
prayer to the conditions of the universe. 

It is the law of nature to be methodical as to 
time and season, renewing the forces of growth 
from time to time by going into the SILENCE, 
housing its energy for greater service. Prayer 
is like that, when it is HONEST prayer. It is 
NATURAL growth that admits the inflow of the 
Divine, from which we reap an abundant harvest. 

We cannot uproot the worldly ideals man has 
set, as the hands of a clock, pointing to what he 
deems to call PERFECTION, but we CAN hold 
the Cross of Calvary before his eyes until the 
lights burn low in the Cathedral of a Godless 
pulpit. We CAN plant seeds that will grow in 
the desert of ignorance. 

The cut-worm cannot destroy the "burning 
bush" for: "HERE AM I, HERE AM I." 

THOUGHTS AND THEIR KIN 

Previous to the transition of Ella Wheeler Wil- 
cox, there came before the public a query, "Why 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 97 

does this capable writer cling to the old idea of 
a God ? ' ' I folded the paper and answered within 
my own soul, WHY? Because she was a 
THINKER. Because she was one who came very 
close to the heart of things. Because she was 
clean, good and wholesome. Because she under- 
stood the SOURCE of her OWN POWER to do. 

DEAR SOUL, that has lived, still lives, 

In the arms of the great Infinite God 

Who hath made the way clear, 

And holdeth dear the treasures trove she left 

behind ; 
That we might grow in beauty so, we could if we 

would, 
Rival the stars, and thus bring home to her, 
The knowledge that she worked not in vain but 

the 
Same God in whom she believed, held us close in 

His 
Embrace that we too might find a place, where 

she, 
OUR LOVED ONE DWELLETH. 

We are a part of the great eternal whole. We 
cannot deny one member of the body, nor can we 
deny the unity of purpose in connecting the many 
members of the body; nor can we deny these 
have a Divine purpose that embodies SPIRIT. 

Life is a creative force that proclaims a CREA- 
TOR. It is conscious, intelligent existence; a 
VITAL PRINCIPLE; that which tends toward 
progression and development; these proclaim 



98 FACE TO FACE 

God. Intelligence is Omnipotent, Omnipetent, 
Omnipresent Spirit. "God is a Spirit." 

The inhabitants of India will not accept our 
God because they cannot imagine spirit as WILL, 
as a force that can ACT and CREATE without 
being united with matter. They do not under- 
stand, or know, that electricity is directly con- 
nected with Divinity; that spirit HAS power to 
penetrate substance by its electric magnetic 
force; that spirit IS will, conscious intelligence; 
that it has power to quicken dormant negative 
films as it were, into ACTIVE principles that 
will co-operate with higher intelligences, and thus 
enliven empires. 

It may seem strange fancy, nevertheless the 
Omnipotent presence of spirit CAN and WILL 
co-operate with the VERY VITALS OF THE 
HUMAN RACE, until it has accomplished the 
DIGNITY with which man was in the first place 
endowed; made in His likeness and image. 

The bare fact that Spirit is NATURAL, puts 
upon its face the power to send forth and quicken 
the responsive chords of nature in man. It is 
the God in man calling for the Divine in nature, 
the headlight by which spirit finds its way to en- 
liven, quicken and develop these powers. Man 
may live for years without recognizing this great 
force at work within; and then, without warning, 
find the truth in it through some outward expres- 
sion that will bring the fact home to him that he 
HAS talents, powers, that MAY grow into great 
achievements. 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 99 

God is a supreme force, personal by nature. 
"GOD IS A SPIRIT/ ' In "Simplified Lessons 
in the Science of Being' ' by Fanny B. Harley, we 
find the following: "I call your attention to the 
fact that Jesus could not have said, 'God is a 
spirit,' but 'God is spirit'; for John says: 'God 
is love,' 'God is light.' " The author must have 
overlooked a verse in which John also said: 
"God is A spirit: and they that worship Him 
must worship HIM in spirit and in truth. ' ' This 
was taken from a Bible so old I was compelled to 
use a microscope to see the words clearly, the 
date being wholly effaced by time. 

"God is Love." We know that it takes 
FORCE to send love into penetrating properties 
and expressions. This is a personal quality. 
"God is light." Spirit is light, the illuminating 
presence of God. Love is the battery of soul; no 
light is visible without soul. In the recesses of 
the soul the expressive principles are set to work, 
from which emit the presence of the Eucharist. 
It is easier when we know this, to understand 
what power mind has over matter ; why the spirit 
of God may dwell within us richly; why thought 
has such wonderful force. 

INGERSOLL: "Even Christ, the supposed 
son of God, taught that persons were possessed 
with evil spirits and frequently, according to the 
accounts, gave proof of this Divine origin and 
mission by frightening devils out of his own 
countrymen. Chasing devils was his chief em- 
ployment, and the devils thus vanquished gener- 



100 FACE TO FACE 

ally took occasion to acknowledge him as the true 
Messiah, which was not only kind of them, but 
fortunate for him." 

LOTUS: The above statement is unusually 
antagonistic to the laws of PURE SPIRIT, and 
is a fair example of thought and its effect. 
Thought forces do not cease as soon as forgotten 
by us ; there is a record THERE. I wonder how 
we will feel when we face our thought world? 
Our air castles do not seem so vague after all; 
they are but truth written in fiction. Let us 
pray; prayer was never more needed than in the 
construction of the thought world. 

Thoughts are things. Consider what manner 
of THING such a thought would create; things 
that leave their imprint buried deep in the minds 
of the many. These thoughts impress the indi- 
vidual, or individuals, according to the power be- 
hind the thought. If they are evil, falling upon 
fertile ground, the consequences may become phe- 
nomenal in nature in their course of construction 
and destruction. Good thoughts likewise, build 
according to the power from the positive to the 
negative, infusing themselves in some fertile 
brain, BECOMING A DEFINITE ACTION, then 
habit. Habit forms CHARACTER; character a 
DESTINY. 

To become a harboring negative, is to admit an 
obsessing force that imprisons disease in mind 
and body, which results in demonstrating a degen- 
erate force. A degenerate force developing in 
mind demonstrates evil, until it BECOMES an 
obsessing force. Jesus drove out these obsessing 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 101 

forces, devils, by the POWER OF THE SPOKEN 
WORD. 

TRUTH CASTETH OUT ALL CORRUP- 
TION. Man cleansed, purified by the WORD OF 
GOD and praise recognizes not only JESUS AS 
THE CHRIST, but recognizes the Divine prin- 
ciple within HIS OWN BEING. These obsessed 
ones did not know the truth for themselves ; Jesus 
knew it for them; "but," the infidel says: 
"JESUS DROVE THEM into swine." 

They WERE things, TRULY they were things. 
No matter what FORM they took, they WERE 
THE RESULT OF SIN, of evil THOUGHT, of 
OBSESSING FORCE. They were MATERIAL 
THOUGHT, and of SUCH construction is the 
DEVIL HIMSELF. 

COMMONPLACE THINGS AND THEIR 
PLACE IN THE REALMS OF THE DrVINE 

Boom! Boom! Boom-e-ty Boom! Halleluiah — 
what a Saviour! Meekly we follow to their hall 
those who sing. We see them feed the hungry, 
see the hot coffee and rolls grasped eagerly by 
dirty, grimy hands. We hear the great army 
singing all the while "COME, BROTHER, GOD 
IS WAITING." Tears stream down furrowed 
cheeks, the hungry are fed in SPIRIT AND IN 
TRUTH. In this one little act there is so much 
that is REAL. It is through just such little 
things that the spirit of God is ENABLED to 
dwell within us richly. It is in the so-called com- 
monplace things of life that we see the magnitude 
of God's works. From the tiniest particle to the 



102 FACE TO FACE 

highest mountain top, we find the Infinite wisdom 
and workings of Divine purpose, running like a 
thread of gold throughout the universe. 

As I walked toward the morning-glory vines, 
peeping over the fence at me, I looked out over 
the alley, and paused to look closer at the bright 
shiny row of garbage cans that dotted the alley 
here and there. I could but wonder, as I noted 
the tightly fitting lids, at the perfect system that 
had made the garbage can possible. 

It was first taken from the bowels of the earth 
in the Garden of God, and then brought to the 
light of usefulness by the intelligence and skill 
of man. The routine of city system waylays dis- 
ease, and gives sustenance to the earth, by dis- 
posing of the garbage as a fertilizer, and thus the 
law of producing is enlivened. 

God may not have thought of the garbage can, 
but He thought of the NEEDS of man; much as 
the fond father places before his son tools and 
material, knowing that the child will create some- 
thing useful, pleasing. He knows also, the more 
we express the Divine sense, the greater will be 
our achievements. 

Power groweth in a night when it is justified 
by faith in works. 

As I walked back to the house I paused by 
the kitchen sink, when a question arose in my 
mind — WHY do servants so dislike to wash 
dishes? The wee small voice whispered: "Have 
you ever thought what the dishpan and its con- 
tents mean to us? The earth itself is a part of 






WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 103 

their construction ; the beautiful decorations, the 
mineral paint, is taken from the LITTLE 
THINGS of earth." 

What a wonderful amount of thought and skill, 
romance and sentiment, that dishpan holds, I 
cried! Why, there are the cups that were given 
to mother on her wedding day, and they are the 
old Eoman blue that is so hard to obtain now. 
The funny little windmills and the peasants 
dotted here and there over them always bring a 
SMILE WITH THEM. And there, look at that 
little butter tray! Grandmother made such lovely 
little pats of butter that just seemed to be grow- 
ing among the gold and green decorations on the 
tray. Never shall I forget how delicious were 
the biscuit and butter, the honey and the cream; 
was it because they were served so attractively? 
Was it the effect of suggestion? Dishes DO sug- 
gest to us. The WAY things are served repels 
or compels. It is one of the little things that 
assists nature to heal. 

AND LOOK, HERE is Jimmie's little mug; 
funny, isn't it, with its quaint coloring? But 
Jimmie went away, last year, in apple blossom 
time, and the mug holds flowers now. 

And here are the modern plates, that we had 
such a HAPPY time selecting when HIS HONOR 
came to dine — what a WORLD of poetry that 
dishpan holds! 

I had a colored maid at that time of whom I 
was very fond, but she did SO dislike to wash 
dishes. A few days after my own experience 



104 FACE TO FACE 

with the wee small voice, I went to the kitchen 
at dish-washing time and asked Milly if she knew 
what she was washing. 

"Yas 'em, I does; dishes, and dey's dirty, too." 

I explained to her the origin of dishes and the 
sentiment that was bubbling happily about in the 
sparkling suds ; what those dishes meant to me, 
and to mankind in general. 

"Now Missie, who'd evah thought of that but 
jes' you!" she cried vehemently. 

I never saw Milly washing dishes again that 
she did not originate some song attuned to her 
task. It brought harmony in our kitchen, and a 
greater understanding in the heart of Milly for 
THINGS, as seen through the spiritual eye. She 
thought it a privilege to care for and cleanse the 
things that God and man had brought to 
perfection. 

After that many beautiful thoughts were 
brought to my room, crude, true; but they bared 
the heart that was learning the value of things 
made holy by the gift of the spirit. 

One foggy, dreary day I was somewhat 
depressed; it almost seemed that God had disap- 
peared in the sunshine of yesterday, when Milly 
tiptoed to my side unannounced. "Missie, look 
a heah." From her apron she took an old 
raspberry can. "See that, Missie," pointing with 
pride to a seed that had begun to sprout, even 
though it had got wedged in the crevice of an old 
tin can. "You-all said, Missie, you would jes* 
give anything for one Scotch thistle like Missie 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 105 

Julia haid. When Missie Julia 's thistle died, she 
done throw it in our ya'd, an' the seed done hid 
for you, Missie.' ' 

"How do you know it is a Scotch thistle, 
Milly?" 

In answer, she held up a piece of down that had 
somehow become fastened under the little seed. 
Milly cared for the little seed as though it were 
a diamond; and so it proved to be later, when 
she proudly set a plant before me that bore one 
of the most perfect thistles it has ever been my 
pleasure to see. She had put on her new 
STA'CHED gingham and stiff little white cap 
in honor of the occasion. Silently she sat, her 
head between her hands, watching me paint the 
thistle that God had placed so mysteriously near 
the hand that had tended it. 

"Ain't it a BIG thistle, Missie?" 

"Yes, it is, Milly, thanks to you." 

The old raspberry can, dressed in a coat of 
green paint, sits in state on Milly 's old slate 
mantel today. 

"No 'em, you-all cain't have it, it's the biggest 
thing in old Milly 's life; NO SUH, nor you cain't 
put your cigah ashes in it either." 

"I have heard of peace pipes and dream pipes, 
Milly," said my escort, "but I have never heard 
of dream-cans." 

"You-all hush you business, that aint no dream 
can, that am KEALIZATION. " 

Many a seeming trifle dwells on the mantel of 



106 FACE TO FACE 

memory and sings in accord with the Infinite, 
humble though they be. 

Thinking among the little things, the plain 
humble things, is a profound religious duty. 

"Not as eye service, as men pleasers, but as 
servants of God from the heart.' ' 

For He would have us be as little children, 
that we may see the BEAUTIES of His power 
in every leaf, tree and flower. Thinking among 
LITTLE THINGS so develops the latent forces, 
talents, that they spring up almost unnoticed 
until we realize the working power in them and 
aid their expression by lending to them the best 
thought and training. This is the key to develop- 
ing any talent or power;. lending our best efforts 
to it, unhampered by what would sometimes seem 
to be but fancy. It is after all, the things we 
take pleasure in, that enables us to find and hold 
a latent power until we CAN give it the attention 
its nature demands to bring out its worth in full 
force. It is but the QUICKENING OF THE 
DIVINE WITHIN, the possibilities of His 
likeness and image, making themselves manifest 
in outward expression. Thought, rightly directed, 
is the science that is the agency of producing. It 
is a sort of electric energy that meets spirited 
action and the phenomena due to these actions. 
Thus we find thought CAN BE SO DIRECTED 
AS TO QUICKEN LIFE IN ACTION until it 
becomes any one of the arts or professions our 
being is capable of expressing. We find the 
greatest food for thought in nature, for nature 
brings to us at times the power of second sight, 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 107 

as it were; that is, we are enabled to see beyond 
the present condition of our possibilities at the 
time, and through some unseen power working 
in all nature our eyes are opened to the truth 
within. Determination to get CLOSE TO GOD, 
to the THINGS OF GOD; opening the door of 
the soul to the inflow of truth in these, brings 
peace, poise and power through which we are 
enabled to understand in the fullest sense what 
we are capable of; what talents are dormant, and 
what particular faculty only needs the touch of 
expression to call it forth into being. EEALLY 
dormant talents may be brought forth by proper 
adjustment to their needs. Too oft an inferior 
instructor is thought good enough to BEGIN 
with; this is a grave mistake, the best tutor 
obtainable is not good enough to help us build 
the foundation of a future. A poor instructor 
may take mayhap years of expression from us, 
months of worry and turmoil, discouragement, 
and the end is not satisfactory. 

Find the talent, find and obtain the best 
instructor, then apply the BEST THAT IS IN 
YOU to the theme in hand. YOU WILL WIN IF 
YOU KEEP GOD IN IT. 

First find, then apply the knowledge necessary 
to carry these talents through the dark stages 
of torpid dormancy into the bright light of 
active reality ; the end will NOT be disappointing. 
That is the secret of it all; when our thoughts 
by God are led THEEE we find all we are 
seeking, and more, Angels may be slumbering 
near our door. Nature assists us to find and 



108 FACE TO FACE 

apply our better self; our BIG- self to reach out 
into the night and draw within our care and 
protection the innocent ones, that we may reap 
all the beauty such as these give, and the greatest 
of these is trusting love. Like Evangeline, we 
seek our loves through the paths of nature bare- 
foot and longing. IT is the ART created in the 
heart, the blending of nature and the soul, that 
gives hope, no matter the goal. Over our heads 
the stars gleam forth brighter and still brighter 
with each new night. AH! it is the kindling of 
God's thoughts, shining through the mist of 
years, to bring us laughter and dry our tears! 

Nature is ever teaching its beautiful lessons to 
man even though it be expressed in the hod he 
carries on his back. The hod comes from the 
Garden of God, and it holds more from the 
garden; it is spiritualized by honest labor and 
the creative substance it holds. The hod carrier 
is an honest factor in the building of things 
beautiful. 

I knew a very rich man who was ill, ill from 
lack of faith in his fellow man. It seemed to him 
that no one could smile in his presence unless 
they wanted some favor or financial aid. He 
grew melancholy in consequence and moved to 
the suburbs, where he sat moodily watching the 
building going up near his own. One day a 
workman passed as he sat there dreaming. The 
man stopped, picked a little flower growing just 
outside the gate ; turning he went up to the sick 
man saying: 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 109 

"Are ye sick? and Howdy; here's a little 
flower ; maybe it '11 make ye perk up a wee bit. ' ' 

In astonishment the rich man grasped eagerly 
the proffered flower. Daily after that Pat would 
pass the rich man's house with a cheerful 
' * Howdy ; how be yeV The rich man grew more 
and more impatient for morning to come and 
with it the cheerful face of Pat. One day Pat 
failed to make an appearance. Discontentedly, the 
rich man wended his way across the street and 
asked the foreman what had become of Pat. 

"And sure," said the foreman, "his baby is 
dead altogether." 

The rich man asked Pat's address, ordered his 
car and went to see the burial of all Pat held 
dear. A fond, hearty hand-clasp lightened the 
burdens of both men. There arose a friendship 
that brought back to the rich man faith in his 
fellow man, health to his body, and joy to his 
spirit. 

It is just one of the little things, the taking 
time to say "Howdy, How be ye?" that makes 
life move more easily over the cobblestones. 

INGERSOLL: "Nature is without passion." 

LOTUS : Nature covers a broad area. God is 
a Supreme force, a Divine whole, that includes 
passion. God is in all nature; where God is, 
there is intelligence. There are two kinds of 
passion; sensual and spiritual. The love of God 
for the children of men is a passionate appeal 
for all that is good and noble; hence it is 
spiritual passion. Again, there is the Divine 



110 FACE TO FACE 

Passion of the Cross, upon which is the imprint 
of supreme sacrifice. 

In times of material storms, God sends His 
word through nature to man. His Love knows 
no time it cannot heal; it knows no villainous 
crimes ; it knows no reason but the reason of 
truth; it is the only love that will play thee fair. 

Nature's thrills are Holy communion to those 
who are pure in spirit. 

Let us walk and talk, the sun is setting. The 
western prairie is beautiful at this time. The 
buffalo-grass is curling fascinatingly; the wind 
is singing a soft refrain through the windmill in 
yonder pasture. Let us go there and walk; it is 
to me Holy ground. Mother's feet have often 
wandered there, her beautiful thoughts building 
a destiny. Hark! I almost hear her step beside 
me. She loved it well. 

Ah, here we are, you dear wonderful little 
sensitive plant. DID YOU KNOW it goes to 
sleep at night? And, of course, you have noticed 
the closing of its leaves upon coming in contact 
with personal magnetism? While we are watch- 
ing the glorious sunset, let us sit here on the 
grass and I will carry you back to June 5, 
1916', in this same spot. This plant is the product 
of the plant I am about to tell you of. The sun 
looked much the same, save a storm was brewing 
in the far west, the copper colored clouds perhaps 
a little more intense in their glory. 

I was walking along thinking perhaps I had 
better return to the house, when I heard a 
rustling at my side. Fearing snakes, I looked 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 111 

down, to find a meadow-lark and her little ones 
cuddled quite close to the sensitive plant. The 
blossoms were profuse, and I noticed — with not a 
little astonishment — that the lattice-like leaves of 
the plant did not close, as was customary when 
man touched it, although the sweet scented yellow 
powder was falling in profusion from the 
blossoms. 

I looked apprehensively at the sky, the 
CLOUDS were fast scattering. I did not want 
to frighten the birds by my prolonged visit, so 
I sat down on the grass, right where we are 
sitting now, to watch. The mother bird looked 
at me inquiringly. Concluding I looked harmless 
she flew away. I slid over to the plant, thinking 
not to disturb the little ones. Touching the plant 
tenderly every leaflet closed tight. I slipped 
back to my former position and waited for the 
mother bird to return. She did not keep me 
waiting long; she soon returned with a great 
ado, and a little food. To my continued astonish- 
ment, she busied herself about the plant, feeding 
the little ones and chattering away; the plant 
apparently enjoying the conversation; not a leaf 
closed. 

The wind was rising; the tuneful melody of 
the windmill had changed to a mournful sound, 
and I wondered of the sins of Adam. Hastily I 
walked homeward, to meet my cheerful little 
foster mother in the doorway. She had been 
watching and waiting for me. 

"And what do you think you have been 
doing?" she said, as only she could say it; a soft 



112 FACE TO FACE 

little croon, that dispelled every bit of fear and 
ADAM'S SIN. 

I told her, and she advised me to visit the 
plant daily, as she also would be interested. I 
went every evening after that to find pretty 
much the same conditions, until one bright morn- 
ing mother called me out to hear the birds 
singing. 

"DO YOU BLAME ME FOR LOVING IT 
OUT HERE?" she said. Indeed I could not; her 
sweet nature was attuned to the song of the 
birds; hers was a passionate love for the beauti- 
ful, the sweet, the pure. 

"I will go with you this morning, dear, if you 
do not mind." 

Would I have her! It was a privilege granted 
few to enjoy her sweet presence. 

We sauntered along until we came to the grave 
of an Indian, probably fifty or one hundred 
years old. I said I would like to dig it up and 
see what it was like inside. She laughed and 
said: 

"You gruesome mischief, not while I am with 
you at least." 

So we sauntered on, talking lazily, pleasantly, 
with no care in the world ; just happiness, content 
and love. The glorious air and sunshine gave us 
a new lease on life. We felt very near God's 
kingdom. 

Presently I paused in astonishment. Two 
strange looking things were sticking up over 
my little sensitive plant. Could it be my plant 
had grown horns overnight? Mother laughed 






WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 113 

heartily and sat down on a wagon tongue while 
I went to see what these strange things were. A 
rabbit scurried away at my approach. I grieved 
as I looked, for my little birds had flown. The 
rabbit scurried back to the protection of the 
sensitive plant; again the leaves did not move. 

We chatted cheerfully on, discussing the 
possibilities of plant paralysis. The day passed 
pleasantly for us both ; we returned to our churn- 
ing and bread making with new vigor; mother 
and I were chums. 

The next day I went again to see my plant. I 
lay quietly down on the grass, right where you 
are now sitting. A little calf grazed near; the 
leaves closed when the calf brushed by. I lay 
with my hands under my head watching, waiting 
for something, I knew not what; content just to 
live and dream, when I felt something moving 
over my limbs. Although nearly paralyzed with 
fear, I lay quite still while a big harmless bull- 
snake trailed its length over my body. As it 
swept along the prairie I forgot to be longer 
frightened. I was eager to see what the little 
plant would do when the reptile touched it. I was 
not kept waiting; every leaf closed tight. The 
seeming loathing of the plant aroused my own 
loathing, and I sprang to my feet and away. 

Not caring to tell mother of my unhappy 
experience, I sat dreaming while she went out to 
gather the eggs. When she returned she was 
quite pale; sitting down beside me without a 
word, resting her head in her hands. 

By and by I said gently : ' ' What is it, Muzzie ? ' ' 



114 PACE TO PACE 

"Well, dear, I went to put my hand in a 
chicken nest in the barn, and I almost touched a 
big snake all curled up on the eggs." 

I told her of my own experience, and with the 
humor mother always displayed when one was 
least expecting it, said: 

"We must be poor metaphysicians. Professor 
Hobson says: 'You are not a metaphysician until 
you can caress a snake without fear.' " 

"Not quite, Muzzie," I said. "I admit I had a 
good supply of fear." 

Her little black eyes shone as she laughingly 
looked up. 

"And I, too; Bonnie can hunt the eggs after 
this." 

Mother picked up her Bible, the one from 
which I now quote to you, and read aloud: 

"Let the Heavens be glad, let the earth rejoice, 
and let MAN SAY: THE LOED IS RISEN. 
LET THE SEA ROAR, AND THE FULLNESS 
THEREOF ; let the field rejoice and all that is 
THEREIN. THEN SHALL THE TREES OF 
THE WOOD SING OUT AT THE PRESENCE 
OF THE LORD BECAUSE HE COMES TO 
JUDGE THE EARTH." Then her voice, quiv- 
ering with truth in it, said: 

"ALL THE WORLD LOVES LOVE." 

The passionate protest of this little plant to 
be free from personal contact, appeals to me as 
nothing of the kind has ever done. Why, this 
plant is a supersensitive! To be supersensitive, 
I said, is to be passionately keen; this is truly 
nature's passion. 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 115 

Mother again quoted: "IT WAS A FOOL 
THAT SAID THERE IS NO GOD," and then, 
"Oh, can you not feel the heart-throb of God in 
nature? " 

Mother was very happy in her nature studies ; 
she was such a great part of nature herself; she 
dared to think, and she dared to think IN THE 
NAME OF JESUS. Now, dear one, the sun has 
set, and I have lost to mortal eye my chum; and 
yet, do we abide together still in the shadow of 
the ALMIGHTY. 

Her name was Lydia — To me it has the sound 
of some ancient seolian harp that tinkles its way 
into the very recess of my soul, leaving its 
harmony, and then away. 

A SOFT AND SWEET REFRAIN 
It was a glorified porch was mother's porch, 
While we watched the sun go down. 
Her love shone bright like a beacon torch, 
While we watched the sun go down. 
We sat in silence, too sweet for words, 
While we watched the sun go down. 
Just listening to the song of the birds, 
While we watched the sun go down. 
Her eyes were soft as she looked aloft, 
While we watched the sun go down. 
Her spirit slipped out one beautiful night, 
While we watched the sun go down; 
Just as the stars slip out of sight, 
While we watched the sun go down. 
TO RISE again in soft and sweet refrain, 
BECKONING US TO HER PORCH AGAIN. 



116 FACE TO FACE 

It is impossible for me not to reach the very 
center of truth within my being when I behold 
the glory of God's harmony within all things 
that He hath created. There is a whispering 
accent returned to me, that speaks the God in 
them; the great Divine; the love and truth that 
implies the VERY SUBSTANCE OF HIS 
WILL, the materialized power of the spoken 
word. 

Take, for instance, the emblem of our country 
— our flag, with its stars and stripes. Take the 
method by which it was made, and then the 
great principle that stands behind it; and, if you 
will, declare its power. It is, after all, merely 
following in His footsteps. Have we not created 
a great principle and made an emblem we deem 
fit to enthrall that principle? We think nothing 
is as beautiful as our flag; we live for it, we die 
for it, we love it. The Garden of God is His 
flag. The great woods whisper His power. The 
Heavens declare His promise. Man is glorified 
in His likeness and image. Behold the Son of 
everlasting life. 

God gave to us a theme by which we might be 
enabled to fathom the DEPTHS of beauty in 
nature. Nature's beauty imbibed is LIFE. 
When we learn to absorb the beautiful, we 
consume, not only by inhaling the essence, but 
absorb through every pore of our body the 
beautiful life-giving qualities. The substance 
meeting the required needs of the body, that 
enabled pure spirit to "take hold" and manifest 
itself in body and soul to the edifying of man. 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 117 

It is in fact none other than opening the soul to 
the Divine inflow, love and truth, in which all 
things beautiful exist. It seems to me were we 
to take as patterns the flowers of the world, and 
lay them before us, as we do any plan or chart 
by which we hoped to accomplish something of 
true worth and beauty, and apply the beautiful, 
the natural, we would come nearer perfecting 
that which God intended should be perfected 
within man, giving the life forces a natural out- 
let, and a natural intake. 

Take for example, the various flowers and 
plants; the delicate and beautiful; the more 
sturdy, strong and coarse; it /takes them both 
to complete a happy medium. We must have the 
strong as well as the weak, the coarser as well 
as the finer. Too much weakness dulls our 
senses, too much fragrance sickens, too much 
strength overcomes the finer senses. And so God 
in His infinite wisdom has blended the whole 
universe into one perfect whole. When man fails 
to attune himself naturally, he has only the shell 
and not the substance. A happy medium is 
blending spirit with spirit. By so doing, the 
weak are made strong, and the strong refined. 

We live in the heart of the city but we have a 
beautiful lawn. The trees are calling. It has 
rained, the flowers are waving in appreciation; 
the soft raindrops have been absorbed by them, 
and they are GLAD. A bee is humming happily 
around them, drinking in the sweetness, sipping 
the nectar, that by and by finds its way to our 
tea table. 



118 FACE TO FACE 

We have found the supreme law of giving and 
taking, of wage and labor. We, too, taste the 
sweetness that is not only sweetness, but the 
great art and poetry of soul co-mingling with 
the Divine. We have absorbed the GLORY of 
God, the beauty and fragrance of Heaven. We 
go forth in the shadows of peace ; we relax ; 
WHY? Because our being is FILLED WITH 
THE WONDERFUL LIFE-GIVING GIFT OF 
SPIRIT. We have been enabled to realize the 
resting qualities in nature, of nature. Oh, it is 
wonderful! this calm, peace and blaze of glory 
that sweeps us from the arms of the carnal into 
the great open fields of spirit. We stretch our 
length upon the grass, Heaven smiles. We look 
wonderingly at an aeroplane sweeping over our 
heads, we marvel at the progression of man, and 
then again, recall the flight of man to the realms 
of nature for his pattern. 

The dew is falling, still we linger. The angels 
are studding the flowers with diamonds that will 
glitter in the moonlight, beckoning again to man, 
a pattern in nature, in art, in thought, a poem in 
spirit, a grand reality. 

We turn regretfully and enter our dwelling; 
mechanically our hand falls upon the switch; the 
light declares the comforts of HOME. We are 
able to greet the members of our family with a 
better understanding; for has not nature whis- 
pered the truth, oh, ever so softly, while we lay 
so close to its heart? The co-mingling of the 
strong and the weak have taught us to harmonize. 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 119 

The beauty has taught us the ecstasy of spirit; 
the Peace has taught us exultation of soul. 

The curfew woos us to our chambers; but 
somehow tonight we do not care for artificial 
light; we raise our blinds; the shadows of the 
trees shut from our view the diamond studded 
flowers; but we are content, we KNOW they are 
there. A Bar of light shows us two, yea, lovers. 
They, too, have caught the harmony. All nature 
is singing love, the redeeming theme in life. We 
fall upon our knees in thanksgiving. 

The picture has passed, but the fragrance 
remains that came through the lattice-work, 
blending with the shadows on the wall. Again 
was nature working in high lights and shadows; 
Divine love that bedews our flowers with 
diamonds and calls forth a responding chord in 
the hearts of youth. 

We wander once again to our window; our 
prayers are said. Will we find the answer there, 
in the heart of nature? 

A stream of light floods across our vision from 
a neighboring window. Behold! There were 
other loves; two gray heads were bending close 
over the form of their FIRST GRANDCHILD. 
A stately young man held to his breast his love — 
his pain-racked keepsake — as he murmured in her 
ear words of endearment. The door on the 
opposite side of the room closed softly. Some- 
where beneath gay laughter came from the 
servants' quarters: "A boy, ha, ha!" A car 
whizzed by; a nurse crossed the room and gently 



120 FACE TO FACE 

drew the blinds. But the light still shines, all is 
well for GOD IS IN IT. 

We look thankfully at the heavens, the stars 
are gleaming, yea, there is one brighter than the 
rest ; a soul is born in the world of things. 

Our pillow feels so downy; we have absorbed 
the beautiful, and more — the source of the 
beautiful. With the rising sun we go forth in 
greater understanding, for it is the dawning of 
a greater day. This is absorbing life, as the 
flowers of greater and lesser beauty do, as the 
natural always does. 

Flowers are like children, like kings and 
queens, like maid and man, so royally do they 
serve us. That flowers have feeling, is without 
doubt. Environment has great effect upon their 
sensitive natures. An indifferent tiller never 
harvests enough to pay his thrashers. Again we 
see there must be a co-mingling of the strong 
and the weak, that the lesser may become strong, 
and the strong filled with the essence of HIS 
DIVINE LOVE; hence evolving all. 

In the fathomless depths of Infinite wisdom we 
find the substance that harbors the great. 

Beyond the eaves there whispers a lullaby 
that is sung by all nature. Its theme is LIFE. It 
knows not death but resurrection. It harbors the 
wee small voice, though man recognizes it not; 
but God dwelleth in all. 

Man looks to nature for health, for the 
righting of things gone wrong, and yet he 
neglects to seek the knowledge of what nature 
REALLY IS; what its SUBSTANCE IS; what 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 121 

it is BUILT ON. To reap full benefits from 
anything is to understand the nature of it, the 
source from whence it comes. 

Nature heals, God reveals the knowledge and 
the power. To work with nature is to bring 
forth, not only the best results FROM NATURE ; 
but it develops in man a greater intelligence, a 
greater understanding of himself. Constant 
attunement with the forces governing the 
universe quickens Divine will in man, bringing 
forth that which man chooses to term miracles, 
when in fact, it is but the NATURAL man, the 
Divine in man expressing his inheritance. 

The greatest characters I have ever known 
were those who have attuned themselves to 
nature and its wonderful play through the 
Divine. When men call their flowers " little 
people"; when they speak of them, to them, in 
flower language, it takes no psychic to see the 
quick response in perfect growth. The little 
flower intelligences have certain vibrations all 
their own. They absorb love, returning it again 
to man in the expression of beauty and fragrance. 

To become attuned to FLOWER VIBRA- 
TIONS is to create in our aura, as it were, a 
wonderful spiritual sense by the extreme attune- 
ment; or, I should say, by coming in tune with 
the beautiful flower vibrations, man becomes as 
the angels of heaven in the refinement of nature's 
melody, perfect harmony, or "in tune with the 
Infinite." And God said: "Let there be Light," 
the first note sung in the heart of nature. 

We become soul reapers when we are attuned. 



122 FACE TO FACE 

Longfellow was a soul reaper. He gathered 
souls into the kingdom through his wonderful 
understanding and love of nature. 

A soul reaper has a twofold meaning: First, 
we reap unto our own souls, the wealth and 
beauty that enlivens the soul in pure spirit; and 
then, reap unto the kingdom souls that might 
never have been reached through any other 
channel. It takes just such exquisite beauty of 
soul to appreciate the Bible. Befinement of soul 
lieth first in harmony within; like the petals of 
a rose, falling within other souls so gently, so 
sweetly, so naturally, they unconsciously follow 
the sweet strains. 

It is through soul harmony that God revealeth 
Himself to man. Listen! The murmur of the 
earth sounds far away and strange to thee? Why 
so, hath God not said, "I AM with you always, 
even unto the end of the earth"? This means I 
AM with you always; in all things abideth the 
Divine; the creation of His will; the reflection — 
of the spoken word. 

Is it strange, then, that the earth should mur- 
mur in the ears of those attuned to hear the 
truth in it, when the Divine compels wisdom, 
knowledge and joy? 

When we hear music we LIVE it for the time. 
Its vibrating strains are too full of SOUL to 
speak of lightly. A happy little rhythm may 
send Joy bounding through our being until it 
becomes a LIVING SONG; or perchance some 
deep soulful strain has sounded within that 
belongs to SELF ALONE. It is then, man meets 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 123 

his SOUL in the great REALMS OF UNDER- 
STANDING. Flower vibrations are like that— 
they awake within some sweet harmony that is 
closest of kin to music of the spheres. When 
these two meet in the realms of love, it would 
seem for the time, that man has lost the ways of 
the world, realizing only the BEAUTIFUL, the 
SUBLIME. 

It is necessary to CULTIVATE flower vibra- 
tions as we study music, would we reap the 
Divine sense of His presence in ALL THINGS; 
to our edifying. There are moments when some 
popular songs of the day appeal to our mood; 
and there are days when we reach beyond these, 
to the ripple and rhythm that overflows the 
banks of earthly things; and we sail to realms 
wherein we bare the SOUL to ITS CREATOR. 
It is then we seek the WAYS of the Infinite. 
When we find the real rejoicing we seek to 
cultivate the finer. We thus infuse within the 
soul the rythm that becomes a great symphony 
of culture. It brings within the realms of 
DAILY LIFE, the infallible principle so neces- 
sary to culture; to refined ideals that eventually 
swell to rhythmic waves of purpose; achieve- 
ments that go far beyond the ordinary. Then 
we begin to catch and hold flower vibrations as 
we hold the strains of music. 

SOME are filled with the beautiful waves of 
reality, or, perhaps, I should say, ADJUST- 
MENT, from birth; others have to cultivate the 
real, the highest, the best, by a careful schooling 
in the laws of attunement. The best tutor is co- 



124 FACE TO FACE 

mingling with art, poetry and books of the world, 
not forgetting that the SUBSTANCE of these 
is the studied reflection of nature and the soul. 
Flower vibrations embrace all of these, and 
more. As time goes on, constant attunement 
sends its vibrating force through the being of 
man, on out into the world of men and things, 
finding repose in nature. The rebounding effect 
of supreme happiness upon this plane of life is 
gratified purpose. Man thus finds His likeness 
and image, finds how to express it, how to reap 
the most from it, how to LIVE as man was 
supposed to live. Hence we have a little bit of 
heaven here — and now ; a little idea of what spirit 
means to man, and WILL mean. It is getting in 
tune with nature, and the soul. 

Little flowers whisper to me of things : of love, 
of peace, of war, of tragedy, in the world of men. 
I stooped to pluck a little weed flower that grew 
by the wayside; it was beautiful in its pastel 
loveliness. I held it tight, while it told me the 
story of its life. "I am here," it said; "just how 
I came I do not exactly know, but I am here, 
and I have met YOU. Some folks pass me by, 
they do not care for such as I, while others look 
and find something to admire. ' ' 

"NO WONDER!" I cried, "thou art the re- 
flection of yon mountain — the gray green of thy 
leaves, the purple like flower, the tiny little cen- 
ter, just peeping like the sun o'er its top. Be 
glad, little flower, be glad." 

1 1 Aye, verily, ' ' answered the little flower weed ; 
"we, too, have our mission. Yesterday there was 






WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 125 

a dreadful tragedy right here close to me; men 
were hurt, and SOME died. We do not like 
to see that, for we are the high lights in the 
Garden of God. Though we see tragedies and 
suffer from their vibrations, we must not take 
the time to think of them, for we have such a 
little time to live and so much to do, we have no 
time to grieve." 

The starry night covers the trail of tragedy; 
the day dawns bright and clear; so we must live 
on till frost and time hide us from the world of 
men. But WE really — or our substance — goes 
on, for does not the Good Book say: "God giveth 
to ALL life, eternal life"? It does not say to 
men alone, but to ALL, and that is how I know 
we have our ethereal correspondent. 

The odor of weeds had always been repulsive 
to me, but now I hold them tight, I do not notice 
the scent as strong, but pleasing. New mown 
hay reposing in the fields near by, blessed the 
thought, and I was glad : I had been taught how 
to cultivate a sense until it became a blessing. 
So, my friend, let it be; let it be by the road 
side that it may gladden passers by, and the 
hearts of those who are attuned to meet it. Like 
children, they must be made to obey. We can- 
not let them play in our gardens, lest they 
trample our lilies, you know. But, there is 
a time and a PLACE FOR EVERYTHING 
UNDER THE HEAVENS. 

Weeds consume corruption in the air; the 
stigma of the impure is absorbed by the sub- 



126 FACE TO FACE 

stance that the weeds hold within their meshes; 
this substance is the CAUSE of the strong odor, 
and should be held sacred by mankind. The 
little spider that weaves among its leaves im- 
bibes microbes, and the way of man is made more 
safe. Contrary to the belief that weeds are 
dangerous, I affirm they are dangerous only when 
coming in contact with the filth of earth in which 
malaria breeds. The mosquito thrives on weeds 
in marshes, because the power of substance in 
marsh weeds is less powerful to absorb impurities ; 
hence — malaria. 

Not one thing is without some beauty; not one 
thing absolutely useless, worthless. Cultivate 
the little vibrations of love that abideth in them 
until they call forth a perfume sweet and holy. 
"And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection, 
after the art of the apothecary, tempered to- 
gether, pure and holy. And thou shalt beat 
SOME of it very small, and put of it before the 
testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, 
where I WILL MEET WITH THEE: it shall 
be unto you most holy." A perfume of nature 
and the soul, thus sending before us the beautiful 
rhythm of life, the incense of attunement. How 
can man help but glean the fullness thereof? 

little flower vibrations, we have caught your 
secret ; we can meet you fair, and profit with all. 
You have a place within our soul, within our 
life, making more verdant, more fertile, the 
earth, that the harvest may be plentiful. 

INGEESOLL: "In nature I seem to see good 
and evil, intelligence and ignorance, goodness 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 127 

and cruelty, care and carelessness, economy and 
waste. I see means that do not accomplish their 
ends, designs that seem to fail. To me it seems 
infinitely cruel for life to feed on life, to create 
animals to be devoured by others. The teeth 
and fangs and claws that tear and rend fill me 
with horror. What can be more frightful than 
a world at war? Murder universal everywhere; 
pain, disease and death that do not wait for bent 
forms and gray hair. 

* ' I know that life is good. I remember the sun- 
shine and rain; then I think of the earthquakes 
and floods. I do not forget the harvest, home 
and love; but what of the pestilence and famine? 
I cannot harmonize all these contradictions, these 
agonies, these blessings, with the existence of an 
Infinite God. Will some orthodox Christian ex- 
plain these things f" 

LOTUS: Man was placed in the Garden of 
Eden a perfect being; was driven from the gar- 
den because of his sin; yet was he clothed in the 
garments of care and love. The balance in the 
scales of life must swing pound for pound. What 
would life be upon this plane if we had no sor- 
rows, no cares 1 It would be heaven. Man denied 
heaven in the Garden of Eden; he wanted the 
sins of the world, and he got them, and the con- 
sequences of them. 

Truth begets truth, and love begets mercy; 
mercy begets the essential to the future of man 
— HAEMONY WITH INFINITE INTELLI- 
GENCE — in it is no death at all. When man- 
kind becomes in tune with the harmony of the 



128 FACE TO FACE 

Divine, there will be a change which will illumi- 
nate the carnal sense and obliterate the hold it 
has on men. Then will Christ return to live in 
the hearts of men. There is no horror equal to 
an untethered carnal sense. This horror of hor- 
rors weighs heavily in the scales of time, with 
no profit to the consumer, and less to the pro- 
ducer. 

Man must change before he can hope to change 
the lesser intelligences. Darwin caught the notes 
but left the melody unsung. Man is kin to nature, 
to all in nature, but NOT ITS OFFSPRING. 
When we sing, we are as the birds; when we 
whine, as a cat ; when we fear, as the hare ; when 
we hate we devour, as do the wild beasts. When 
we fondle our young, we are expressing what all 
nature has expressed from the days when God 
said: "Adam, Adam, where art thou?" When 
we love, we are beginning where God began in 
the Garden of Eden, to show the TRUE WORTH 
OF LOVE. When we love, we are expressing 
the Divine within that flows through all nature 
alike; therein lieth the kinship. 

But man was BORN OF GOD. Man is not 
only the materialized spoken word, but God made 
him in His likeness and Image, thus man is a 
superior being. God expects more of man than 
he does of beast. He expects him to be a LIV- 
ING LIGHT ; a living, loving truth, before these 
creatures, that the lesser intelligences may de- 
velop to greater heights and more noble lives. 
We ofttimes say, Wonderful lion, how noble, how 
beautiful! True, he is noble in appearance. 






WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 129 

Where there is appearance there is SOME- 
THING back of it that proclaims a fact, whether 
it be seemingly submerged in habit that would 
declare the contrary or not. 

Within the walls of greater intelligences, there 
has been for countless ages a slumbering desire 
to bring into our homes some animal that may 
be of service, or domesticated pets. This in it- 
self proclaims kinship, for God worketh in all 
things. As the Divine dwelleth in all, there is 
bound to be a bond that cannot be severed ; hence 
from the beginning we have longed for that 
which was our own. In this great Academy of 
Fine Arts, as it were, we find were we to live 
a thousand years we could get little farther than 
the first grade, so immense is the subject which 
God has set before us to solve in the lesser intel- 
ligences. 

Take for example music, and its effect on va- 
rious animals. What is that but harmony attuned 
to meet harmony? Again we find the Divine 
seemingly slumbering, waiting to be called forth 
in these lesser intelligences. A seal will balance 
a ball on the end of its nose to the time of music, 
seemingly much " peeved' ' if the ball goes a bit 
awry of the music. A horse will prance beauti- 
fully, expressing grace, rhyme and rhythm, in 
every move. Once I knew two plow horses, 
heavy and large, that when hitched to a plow 
and brought to mother's rose garden in which 
she had placed a phonograph, danced as merrily, 
as happily, as horses of finer build. The plow- 
ing done, the horses looked regretfully at the 



130 FACE TO FACE 

porch, where the turkeys gathered, flapping their 
wings in appreciation of the music. And right 
here, if you have never watched the effect of 
band music on a turkey, just do ; it will give you 
pleasure. Do not, however, let them know for 
one moment that you are watching them; they 
resent this. 

Is it not a natural thought of mine to declare 
Mother's porch a GLORIFIED POECH, where 
we wandered arm in arm, heart to heart, in the 
wonderful fields of lesser intelligences? Would 
you not think it a GLORIFIED PORCH? 

A bird will sing the louder when music is 
played. All nature raises its voice and proclaims 
its maker. Heaven smiles upon the creatures 
that rend and tear just as it smiles on us; the 
stars gleam, and the wee small voice whispers 
sweet things in their ears in a language they can 
understand. 

"But ask now the beasts, and they shall 
teach thee ; and the fowls of the air, and they 
shall tell thee. Or speak to the earth, and 
it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea 
shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not 
in all these the hand of the Lord hath 
wrought this? In whose hand IS THE 
SOUL OF EVERY LIVING THING, and 
the breath of all mankind." "For thou 
shalt be in league with the stones of the field, 
and the beasts of the field shall be at peace 
with thee." 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 131 

It is a great theme in which to work. It is 
our own experiences that compel a greater under- 
standing. Seeing is not enough; we must work 
through that seeing, beyond that seeing, until 
not only our vision is clear, but our understand- 
ing of it. The unfathomable depths of cause and 
effect was never more in evidence than in the 
greater and lesser intelligences. 

A throb of happiness springs in my breast, 
When I see a man in his Sunday best 
Stoop to caress a wounded one, 
E'en though his frills be all undone. 

Tender hearts will quicken and be glad when 
man accepts the power given him from on high 
to quicken into active principles the Divine de- 
sire (Will) of God, who has given these lesser 
intelligences to the world that the great may 
work to the salvation of the many with unre- 
stricted loyalty to His purpose; hence educating 
spirit in man, ennobling it, that it may enter the 
exalted state of pure spirit in spirit. Mankind 
does not know what eloquent though silent com- 
panionship hovers near, until he has frightened 
away the bird that has been hovering about, ac- 
cepting the crumbs wantonly thrown away. 

Lesser intelligences are as capable of under- 
standing love as is mankind. The fact is, they 
apply it more naturally than does man. 

Nature speaks to man in a primeval way, be- 
cause man has not learned to meet it any other 
way. There are many ways of speaking without 



132 FACE TO FACE 

voicing. As mankind becomes in tune with crea- 
tures of lesser intelligences, a greater under- 
standing will spring up between them. As we 
drift (I should say stumble) through the lesser 
intelligences it becomes almost unbelievable, that 
is, the AMOUNT of intelligence that meets us 
more than half way in our attempt to fathom the 
mysteries that enshroud their silent but potent 
appeal to greater intelligences. The God of the 
universe comprehends the limitations of all intel- 
ligences and fathoms the SUBSTANCE in which 
it is enacted. I have watched the workings of 
intelligence from a scientific standpoint, and can 
say that they all spring through the substance 
of thought wells, or cells, into ACTIVE EEAL- 
ITY in the ether, from whence an abundance of 
bodily shapes, through which the light or the 
darkness (as the case may be) is translated to 
spirit, as works translate the motives, the con- 
struction of things upon THIS plane. 

We hear a lot about new inventions, creative 
works, on this plane, but nothing is said of what 
is being done, accomplished or builded, by mortal 
man in the ethereal ; or what these creative forces 
sent into the ether mean to those already in the 
ethereal. 

It is beyond description to see the working 
principles with which man endeavors to reach 
an ideal. It is invariably the case that when one 
is seeking an IDEAL, that one passes through 
many changes, both in a material and spiritual 
sense ; hence the ideal is bound to be first worked 






WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 133 

out in spirit, or etherealized — if you will, and 
then materialized. As these thought subjects 
form in the ether, and are first etherealized, they 
take various and varied forms, according to the 
degree of thought of the one creating it. When 
the ideal is completed in a spiritual sense — ethe- 
realized as it were — and then materialized, the 
ethereal will take on new ACTIVE principles in 
the ether, and new light. 

These thoughts are attached to the material 
body, creating the aura (or gauze) around the 
one enacting them. So, my friend, it stands to 
reason that the more we build our ideals after 
the principle of the Christ, after the perfecting 
of His example, the more illumined our aura will 
be, the nearer the kingdom we will come. As 
God is not far from us at any time, our aura is 
felt, seen and interpreted by Him. The ever 
watchful eye that sees the sparrow's fall is hov- 
ering ever near in the sense of at-one-ment. 

The more beautiful our aura the closer we 
come to our Saviour and our loved ones gone be- 
fore. The higher forces are thus enabled to 
penetrate a beautiful gauze, enliven, quicken, the 
intelligence of mortal man, far more readily than 
an aura built wholly or partly on carnal sense, 
the ideal being of lower or material vibrations. 

I hear so much about Divine Intelligence being 
a compact fact, that it has set me to thinking 
just how far reaching Divine Intelligence in all 
things living, or in all life, reaches or may reach. 
The outcome of my thoughts are that Divine In- 



134 FACE TO FACE 

telligence is in all THINGS HAVING LIFE; 
that is, that the thing holding life ENACTS the 
Divine. For the world and all therein was 
FIRST etherealized and then materialized, hence 
the thing that retains life began in the Divine 
co-operation of intelligence that flows from the 
spoken word, THE WILL of God. All the inves- 
tigations I may make only savor stronger and 
stronger of the Divine; of the intelligence 
(spirit) that penetrates and infnses itself into 
substance, matter, enacting the Divine. Divinity, 
the highest intelligence, is enabled to flow freely, 
quicken and enact any expression it may choose. 
However, the brighter the light of pure exalted 
conditions within substance (matter) the more 
POWERFULLY can the Divine work within it. 
I have watched so many times the mother bird 
hovering over her little ones and cried in amaze 
at the wisdom, understanding, love and exulta- 
tion she expresses continually, that it brings to 
my mind another thought — that of vibrations 
that heal, care for, and protect all creatures who 
are unable to care for and protect themselves 
beyond a certain point. The omnipresent God 
sends these vibrations into the creatures of 
greater and lesser intelligences. WE SAY na- 
ture heals. Even then do we affirm the power 
of God, for God is personal by nature, a Divine 
presence, the SUBSTANCE OF ALL. All crea- 
tures have the Doctor — that is, the Divine Doctor 
—LOVE. When we learn how to TAKE as well 
as GIVE, we grow in soul power. When we 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 135 

learn to take in meek and quiet spirit all that is 
good for us, we are better enabled to give, for 
we have found the value of patience, forbear- 
ance. The first law of success in anything is 
OBEDIENCE to the wee small voice, the 
prompting spirit. 

In years to come perchance man may talk with 
animals, the fowls of the air, the fishes of the 
sea, the creeping things, insects. They may rea- 
son with them, for it IS NOW. We speak audi- 
bly or by expression to our domestic animals, 
and do so naturally, why not then those we have 
NOT domesticated? Man's heart thrills at the 
song of the bird, a chord has been struck that 
sends a thrill from one to the other. Lo and 
behold, God knoweth! 

A little bird will sing a song, and then perk 
its head on one side and the other, looking 
around to see if we appreciate his song. When 
we do, we do not speak, do not move, and thus 
eliminate fear in the tiny heart, and in the great 
silence the vibrations of love penetrate the intel- 
ligence of the bird, and he knows his song is 
appreciated. It will sing again, it will come close 
and look trustingly in your eyes. This is the 
secret understanding in how to meet the finer 
senses: first, obliterating fear, and then, bird or 
whatever it may be, understanding you, fears 
not. 

It is the nature of man, beast, fish and fowl to 
be continually on the alert for danger. Do not 
mistake this at all times for mistrust; it is not 



136 FACE TO FACE 

always so. By and by when the great under- 
standing cometh that is builded on truth, there 
will be less to fear, and less fear will be shown 
for ns. Universal love will then send its wonder- 
ful vibrations throughout the world, and God 
will appear to man. It is a heavenly condition 
in which we can begin working, educating our- 
selves and the lesser intelligences now. Oh, it 
is wonderful, this coming in tune with God's 
creatures ! 

As I sit here writing, a little squirrel is sitting 
up in front of me, evidently asking me whether 
I intend to leave him entirely out of my theme 
or not. I can assure you, squirrelie, that I DO 
NOT, for the blinking of your bright eyes proves 
your intelligence, and it is Divine, for God gave 
it you; it is clean and wholesome. Every- 
one who knows Chicago knows Lincoln Park; 
to know Lincoln Park is to know the squirrels. 
The world calls these squirrels tame. But to me 
it is MORE. There is the sublime workings of 
greater and lesser intelligences, the harmonizing 
of the whole. "God is our refuge and our 
strength.' ' "God is love," the key to Divine 
love that surges in the hearts of all God's crea- 
tures. When fear is obliterated, it finds expres- 
sion through Divine understanding, the Divine 
in all. 

Folk cry for facts with the doors of their 
souls closed and padlocked. To meet facts FACE 
TO FACE, requires ALL THAT IS IN MAN to 
meet them fair. 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 137 

Ah, here is the Tailor Bird, a great theme from 
which to work ! While we watch them build their 
nests it will be time well spent. First of all, they 
select the finest leaves that have no worm or 
loose holes in them; then they fold them to- 
gether, carefully pulling edge to edge, sewing 
them fast by a sort of cross-stitch wonderfully 
exact as to distance between stitches. Then they 
build up the inside just as carefully. They are 
extremely careful in selecting the thread for the 
sewing, picking only the strong, and it must not 
be wiry, but supple. To watch them select and 
test the thread is amusing. It reminds me of 
Granny, when she pulls bits of thread from a 
spool, much to the clerk's disgust. To see them 
perking their heads on one side and the other, 
observing the efficiency of their work, is enlight- 
ening. If the work is not satisfactory, they tear 
it away with no little display of disgust. If it is 
satisfactory, they hop about merrily. 

The birds are not unlike the thrifty housewife 
who secures the best to be had for the welfare 
of the family. In a measure bird and housewife 
are partakers in the great cause — that of edify- 
ing their kind, bringing into the world whole- 
someness and perfection. 

"Go thou and do likewise.' ' Herein is not 
only the play of intelligence, but the art and har- 
mony of attuned purpose as well as the power 
to look ahead for the welfare of all concerned. 
YOU say: "What manner of intelligence have 
they? Is it habit or instinct?' ' 



138 FACE TO FACE 

Stop here and think, my friend, what possible 
good would habit or instinct be without a dynamo 
to enliven it? It would be as a bubble blown 
high. There must be a QUICKENING of Divine 
existence before any habit or instinct CAN take 
hold and enact; Divine intelligence the power, 
the plan, the reason, to enact. 

Bird life could not pass through the ages with 
agility and not become weakened or totally ef- 
faced, without intelligence to pilot its needs, 
wants and habits ; although Divine guidance does 
play the greater part in all things having life. 
God fills every living thing with the power of 
action; think you He would neglect the necessary 
requisite to motor, action — that of intelligence? 
God's work is very complete. It would be a total 
loss to bird life were it to depend wholly upon 
habit to carry it through the ages. Habit grows 
into wantonness when it is allowed to run its 
course without the tether of intelligence. 

Habit is a thing assumed; it is not any part 
of Divine intelligence, though it may become in 
a sense Divine through application of the intel- 
ligent powers that be. 

One of the greatest themes in the lives of the 
fowls of the air and earth is that they invariably 
seek shelter where silence will be the predomi- 
nating note. It is a great part nature takes in 
nature, to seek the silence. When God said, ' ' Go 
in thy closet and pray," He was demonstrating 
the greatest law of efficiency. Silence is the 
Divine within seeking its own. 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 139 

Even alligators crawl away in the silence; ly- 
ing there blinking in the sun, caring for naught 
but the stillness of alligator dreams. I have 
found alligators and turtles susceptible to active 
suggestion. Hypnotism, practiced by Professor 
Thornely, made these creatures drowsy, inactive; 
while ACTIVE SUGGESTION enlivened them 
to enact the gestures of head and eyes in exact 
ratio to the Professor's. These demonstrations 
brought to mind the query: Am I to go on in 
my studies of lesser things and lesser intelli- 
gences? A little bird sang a melody; a Locust 
prinked its ukulele prink-ety, prink, prink, prink; 
a rainbow appeared in the sky; I was enchanted 
with the GIFT OF THE SPIRIT, and I cried 
aloud that all might hear : ' ' I would give all my 
life for these ! ' ' A little child cooed in a near-by 
cart, the mother answered with a sweet lullaby. 
The omnipotent hand beckoned me on — I will 
away. 

In the school of progress we must remember 
to RISE ABOVE our little selves and seek these 
lesser intelligences in the spirit of truth, for they 
are ABOVE US until we can understand them, 
and they us. As long as lesser intelligences tear, 
mangle and betray, as long as man turns from 
the truth, the world will not know peace. When 
love shall rule upon the face of the earth in its 
great power of giving and taking, the way will 
not seem so long, nor the days so dreary, for 
they will be alight with the PRESENCE of 
God's purpose fulfilled. 



140 FACE TO FACE 

Two months later finds me in the jungles of 
HUMAN ENDEAVOR, where man toils in any 
way he may to secure his daily needs. There is 
a great lack of intelligence of a greater nature, 
because the WILL has been crushed by the grind 
of things earthly. The DESIRE TO RISE is 
there, but is inactive ; there is nothing to quicken, 
nothing to incite the will to action. These peo- 
ple are sometimes classed among the lower or 
lesser intelligences, when, in fact, they hold the 
same divine inheritance that the higher intelli- 
gences do; it lacks cultivation however. These 
tired souls in the grist of human endeavor lose, 
for the time, the keen sight to — quicken and 
awake the Divine within that leads beyond the 
grist of material endeavor to spiritual triumph, 
hence they lose sight of the SUBSTANCE in ac- 
cepting in apathy their present conditions. 

The old woman across the street rubbing on 
her board with the thermometer at eighty-nine 
in the shade, with a big ironing to do before she 
can cook her dinner, is not apt to think of much 
beyond it — still — she does. When evening comes 
she has to tote a big basket of clothes to the top 
floor of an apartment house before she can go 
to market for supplies for the dinner. Hence 
the cry of those who think — 

' 'Mrs. McNary, can we go with you when you 
take the washing homer' 

"Sure, ye can, but for mercy's sake, what 
for!" 

We carefully evaded the question as we fol- 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 141 

lowed Mrs. McNary up the long flight of stairs, 
helping her with her basket, which we presently 
set down in front of a pretentious looking door, 
knocking gently. An elegantly gowned lady 
answered the knock: 

"So, you are here at last, are you, Mrs. Mc- 
Nary? How much is it this time?" 

"Two seventy-five," answered Mrs. McNary. 

"TWO SEVENTY-FIVE! Well, that is too 
much. I will pay it this time. However, don't 
ever ask that much again." 

"But — " said Mrs. McNary, "there were — " 
but the door was shut. Mrs. McNary stood on 
the outside while laughter came from behind 
the closed door. 

"Well, I saved about four dollars this time; 
the laundry would have charged that anyway. ' ' 

We followed Mrs. McNary indignantly down 
the long flight of stairs. On her head was 
another basket. 

"This wan is a good lady," she said, as we 
trudged along. We soon came to a modest little 
cottage aglow with roses and mignonette. We 
knocked on the half open door. A cheerful ' ' come 
in" greeted us. 

Standing over a preserving kettle was a plump, 
tired little woman. To our surprise, Mrs. Mc- 
Nary placed the basket on the floor, picked up 
the crying baby with a "There, there now, 
honey"; walked with it in her arms to the sink, 
picked up a pan, filled it with cool fresh water, 



142 FACE TO FACE 

crossed to the stove, taking the preserving spoon 
from the tired hand that held it. 

* ' Do wash yonr face, lady ; put plenty of water 
on the back of your neck, it helps/ ' 

Gratefully Mrs. McNary 's lady complied with 
the request. Then Mrs. McNary handed her a 
cup of fresh tea she had found time to brew. 

" 'Twill perk you up, like everything, ' ' she 
said. 

The preserving glasses were all filled, the 
paramne poured on top, when the silence was 
again broken. 

"How do you feel now, honey V 

"Better, thank you, Mrs. McNary. I wonder, 
have you ever had a black silk dress ?" 

"No-n-o, ma'am." 

"I have been thinking for a long time what I 
could do to make my mother more happy, Mrs. 
McNary, than heaven has made her, and I think 
I could if I would give you her black silk dress; 
that is, if you don't mind." 

Eising, she took from the hall closet a beauti- 
ful black silk gown. Mrs. McNary put it on, and 
it was I who carried the basket home ; for, it was 
filled with human kindness; with a bit of human 
endeavor, that was inspired in heaven. And we 
saw as we walked along, an angel, beaming on 
Mrs. McNary 's black silk gown. 

Lesser intelligences and higher motives some- 
how seem to blend into one great purpose, the 
purpose God intended. So, in the course of 
events, hopes, ambitions of all mankind, there 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 143 

exists an almost equal division of give and take, 
of greater and lesser intelligence, in man and 
beast alike. The scheme of human endeavor tem- 
pered with the inflow of Divine intelligence, like 
a fount of perpetual increase, rises and falls in 
the tide of greater aim, greater gain and higher 
ideals. Man must become spiritual enough to 
infuse spiritual qualities in the lesser intelli- 
gences, thus bringing, in ATTUNED REALITY, 
a greater destiny upon this plane for man and 
beast alike. 

Few there are in this day and age who can 
look in the wistful eyes of some pet animal and 
enjoy a dinner off the animal's kinsman. The 
wonderful light of intelligence thrown in upon 
the vaporous turn of tidal thought, brings forth 
the substance of the real. In it is not only the 
Divine principle of things made Holy by right 
thinking, but elevates mankind to his proper 
sphere — that of Infinite power. 

We may think miracles beyond the power of 
man, while in fact miracle is a part of man. Man 
was created through the miraculous power of the 
spoken word, spirit of God. Atom to Atom, 
(dust) but the nature of dust was not — made 
known. We many, many times hinder the inflow 
of Divine power by eliminating the possibilities 
of At-one-ness. There are no limitations to 
Divine understanding. Man may reach the goal 
of perfection here and now, if he will but "hold 
fast that which is good" in the universe as well 
as within himself. As the universe embraces the 



144 FACE TO FACE 

whole, it is necessary for man to become attuned 
to the universe and all therein. The march of 
time brings forth the opportunity to attune him- 
self; will he grasp it? Opportunity faces man 
on every hand ; the fault lies within the man that 
will not see it. 

I cannot say, as some do, that A GEEAT op- 
portunity presents itself to man. Every law of 
intelligence is broken by that assertion, to my 
way of reasoning, for opportunity cannot come 
single-handed, as GOD IS IN IT; it must hold 
the Divine. Again, there are opportunities that 
do not seem great at the time they are presented, 
and yet when developed are among the greatest 
and grandest. I am positive that were man to 
work THKOUGH EVEEY LITTLE OPPOE- 
TUNITY that presents itself to him, he would 
find his greatest opportunity lying among them. 
Great opportunities are found far more often by 
the wayside than in cultured gardens. Nature 
presents opportunities; so does man. It stands 
then, to reason, that the greatest opportunity 
comes from the God-head, Infinite intelligence, 
Divine principle, will. For God so willed it to 
be. 

There are innumerable opportunities in the 
jungles. Man is removed from them by circum- 
stances, etc., but he does not stop to consider the 
most terrible jungles are close at hand; that in 
the pens, the slaughter houses, lies an oppor- 
tunity that of attuning himself with the higher 
order of Divine love and understanding; that 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 145 

the schooling through which God intended man 
to progress begins in the mercy shown to all 
God's creatures. Enacting the Divine will to- 
wards all that suffer, thus bringing the suffer- 
ing ones to a greater destiny than the slaughter 
house, where man stands knee-deep in the blood 
of his fellow creatures. 

It matters but little where the subject for 
thought comes from. Whether from sea or land, 
it expresses more and more fully the power of 
spirit. It is not at all strange that God should 
place mankind in the great garden of constant 
teaching, through demonstrating on every hand 
the marvelous technical points in all things He 
has created. When man becomes attuned he will 
be enabled to see the workings of the Divine 
constantly expressing its principles. As man 
progresses in scientific knowledge of nature and 
its principles, as he takes time to study the work- 
ing principles of the Divine in all things, he will 
grow into greater harmony with the universe, 
thus winding the center of his being on the ego 
spool of efficiency. The I AM will have a fuller 
meaning in his plans of self-culture. It will en- 
liven and quicken his being until it expands to 
meet the CEEATOE of that being in the fullness 
of wisdom. That is none other than expressing 
His DIVINE IDEA. 

TO THE END God has created man; "greater 
things shall ye do than these. " Heaven will 
bless one who seeks wisdom in the Garden of 
God, for He knoweth from what wellspring of 



146 FACE TO FACE 

joy cometh the desire of mankind to seek in nat- 
ural simplicity the wondrous workings of the 
grist that grinds so slow but sure. 

God says, "GET WISDOM, GET UNDER- 
STANDING." These words alone should open 
our eyes to the possibilities God hath set before 
us. 

Look at that little water beetle. It lives in 
stagnant pools, it is a blessing in disguise; for 
while it thrives on the vicious substance, it tends 
greatly to lessen the danger of disease. It would 
seem a certain amount of the carnivorous must 
appear in certain animals, insects or fowls to 
balance well with the necessity of protection. 
The vulture is a rapacious bird, yet it is much 
in the fields as the street sweeper in the city. 
Evil showeth itself in many colors. To learn to 
discriminate these colors is one of the little op- 
portunities presented to mankind. God gives to 
man the whole world, in which he may work out 
his own salvation ; it seems preposterous that man 
is as yet only upon the brink. 

When the little weeds are taken from our 
minds we will be better able to GEOW, for they 
will be supplanted by the TRUTH in little things. 

PRIMEVAL THOUGHTS THAT FLOURISH 
IN THE GARDEN OF TIME 

Indians believe in carnate and de-carnate life. 
Even THEY know the value of keeping in tune. 
When I say "even they" I speak literally; prej- 
udice has made it so. And yet, know ye not, 
that the Indian is closer to the SOUL OF NA- 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 14T 

TURE than his white brother? I would rather 
have the nature of an Indian than to try to ex- 
pound the ways of men who dream of new relig- 
ions, new gods, or none. 

Underlying all nature is the continued seeking 
after God. The embodiment of all the brave, the 
beautiful, was the God of the Indian; the rivers, 
the forest, the minne-wa-wa, all whispered to 
the Indian's supersensitive ear. 

One summer a party of us traveled overland 
in a car, through the Indian Reservations of the 
west and middle west. MY HEART SANG ALL 
THE WAY. For the time, I was one of them. 
I was happy ; I was living in nature, with nature. 
The Shadow of His wings hovered over the tepees ; 
and the more modern homes of the Indians all 
belonged to Him. They had not found Christ 
in the full sense of the word, but they had found 
HIS nature; and above it all, they know there is 
something greater, grander. 

One must smell the smoke of the wigwams to 
realize fully that man has lost something by tak- 
ing the gift of nature as a second consideration. 
We do not spend enough time WITH nature. 

So, straightway I builded me a fire of my own, 
and sat there and gazed into the great heart of 
nature, — a part of you, a part of me, — and lo 
and behold, the stars glistened, the moon gleamed 
forth, a prairie chicken scooted by, disturbed by 
my fire ; the corn in the field near by sent a thrill 
of hunger through me that I had not known for 
years. I cuddled closer to the fire. Yea, verily, 



148 FACE TO FACE 

man HAS lost something, and a great something. 
Man has grown in refinement, he has taken a 
firm grip upon conventionalities; and yet, does 
not his VERY SOUL cry out above the din of 
social and commercial life — "Oh, could I but flee 
into the night, hear the whir of wings, the bird 
twittering its lullaby to its wee ones in their nest ; 
could I but hear the barking of some watchful 
dog, the braying of animals, great and small; 
could I but smell the fire round the camp, and 
lay my weary head on Nature's pillow, and rest, 
dream and KNOW!" 

Man goes fishing; why? To catch fish? Or, 
is it his primeval nature calling him back to the 
SUBSTANCE OF THINGS, that great call from 
within, that comes truly to every man? 

Mankind seeks nature; he can go just so long 
without responding to its beckoning call; he can- 
not escape it, it is too deeply rooted for that; 
not alone because of his primeval nature, but 
because of the DIVINE within seeking its kin. 

Look to the alleys, watch the child of the gut- 
ter drag from its filth a blossom; look to the 
lame on the street corner, see how tenderly he 
arranges his flowers "For Sale"; look within the 
walls of commerce and see blossoms everywhere, 
if not real, then pictures of them; visions of 
hunting and fishing camps haunt the walls. Look 
within the modern home, see the good wife ten- 
derly caring for the little plant on the window 
ledge; look within our great mansions and see 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 149 

them everywhere; they grace the altars of our 
churches; they catch the tears of the mourners; 
they put a halo of glory over the bride. In this 
all mankind is kin ; it is nature asserting itself in 
nature. 

As I sat by my fire dreaming, a wolf howled 
mournfully; a nightingale sang her song of won- 
dering; a rabbit scurried by — sitting up so wise, 
looking this way and that for enemies — and then 
hurrying on. It was then I realized that above 
the organ's peal in yon great city, there arises 
a song sweeter by far; The Song of the Soul 
attuned to nature, its God, and its Creator. 

Kneeling at the great fount of nature, one feels 
the PULSE of the great open. It throbs through 
and through one's being; our hearts beat fast 
and faster still, until all nature doth thrill within 
the soul of peace. We stretch our arms to the 
heavens above and KNOW it holds the great 
Infinite Source of all. 

THE GLOEIOUS ANTHEM OF THE BLEST, 
GIVES US HOPE, AND PEACE, AND EEST. 

We fall asleep; we do not dream; the song of 
the bird is hushed, in respect to HIM WHO IS 
SPEAKING TO US in the silence. The spirit 
power within is quickened to meet the dawn of 
a perfect day. We wonder no longer at the SOUL 
in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poems. 

While the corn is sizzling in the ashes, let us 
read one of his poems, written in the spiritual 
light that is so full of understanding, say: 



150 FACE TO FACE 

HIAWATHA'S FASTING 

You shall hear how Hiawatha 
Prayed and fasted in the forest, 
Not for greater skill in hunting, 
Not for greater craft in fishing, 
Not for triumphs in the battle, 
And renown among the warriors, 
But for profit of the people, 
For advantage of the nations. 

First he built a lodge for fasting, 
Built a wigwam in the forest, 
By the shining Big-Sea- Water, 
In the blithe and pleasant Spring time, 
In the Moon of Leaves he built it, 
And, with dreams and visions many, 
Seven whole days and nights he fasted. 

On the first day of his fasting 
Through the leafy woods he wandered; 
Saw the deer start from the thicket, 
Saw the rabbit in his burrow. 
Heard the pheasant, Bena, drumming, 
Heard the squirrel, Adjidaumo, 
Rattling in his hoard of acorns, 
Saw the pigeon, the Omeme, 
Building nests among the pine-trees, 
And in flocks the wild-goose, Wawa, 
Flying to the fen-lands northward, 
Whirring, wailing far above him. 
"Master of Life!" he cried desponding, 
"Must our lives depend on these things?" 

On the next day of his fasting 
By the river's brink he wandered, 
Through the Muskoday, the meadow, 
Saw the wild rice, Mahnomonee, 
Saw the blueberry, Meenahga, 
And the strawberry, Odahmin, 
And the gooseberry, Shahbomin, 
And the grape-vine, Bemahgut, 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 151 

Trailing o'er the alder-branches, 
Filling all the air with fragrance! 
"Master of Life!" he cried desponding, 
"Must our lives depend on these things?" 

On the third day of his fasting 
By the lake he sat and pondered, 
By the still, transparent water; 
Saw the sturgeon, Nahma, leaping, 
Scattering drops like beads of wampum, 
Saw the yellow perch, the Sahwa, 
Like a sunbeam in the water, 
Saw the pike, the Maskenozha, 
And the herring, Okahahwis, 
And the Shawgashee, the craw-fish! 
"Master of Life!" he cried, desponding, 
"Must our lives depend on these things?" 

On the fourth day of his fasting 
In his lodge he lay exhausted; 
From his couch of leaves and branches 
Gazing with half -open eyelids, 
Full of shadowy dreams and visions, 
On the dizzy, swimming landscape, 
On the gleaming of the water, 
On the splendor of the sunset. 

And he saw a youth approaching, 
Dressed in garments green and yellow, 
Coming through the purple twilight, 
Through the splendor of the sunset; 
Plumes of green bent o'er his forehead, 
And his hair was soft and golden. 

Standing at the open doorway, 
Long he looked at Hiawatha, 
Looked with pity and compassion 
On his wasted form and features, 
And, in accents like the sighing 
Of the South-Wind in the tree-tops, 
Said he, "O my Hiawatha!" 
All your prayers are heard in heaven, 
For you pray not like the others; 



152 FACE TO FACE 

Not for greater skill in hunting, 
Not for greater craft in fishing, 
Not for triumph in the battle, 
Nor renown among the warriors, 
But for profit of the people, 
For advantage of the nations. 

"From the Master of Life descending, 
I, the friend of man, Mondamin, 
Come to warn you and instruct you, 
How by struggle and by labor 
You shall gain what you have prayed for. 
Eise up from thy bed of branches, 
Eise, youth, and wrestle with me!" 

Faint with famine, Hiawatha 
Started from his bed of branches, 
From the twilight of his wigwam 
Forth into the flush of sunset 
Came, and wrestled with Mondamin; 
At his touch he felt new courage 
Throbbing in his brain and bosom, 
Felt new life and hope and vigor 
Eun through every nerve and fibre. 

So they wrestled there together 
In the glory of the sunset, 
And the more they strove and struggled, 
Stronger still grew Hiawatha; 
Till the darkness fell around them, 
And the Heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, 
From her nest among the pine-trees, 
Gave a cry of lamentation, 
Gave a scream of pain and famine. 

tl 'Tis enough! " then said Mondamin, 
Smiling upon Hiawatha, 
"But tomorrow, when the sun sets, 
I will come again to try you." 
And he vanished, and was seen not; 
Whether sinking as the rain sinks, 
Whether rising as the mists rise, 
Hiawatha saw not, knew not, 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 153 

Only saw that he had vanished, 
Leaving him alone and fainting, 
With the misty lake below him, 
And the reeling stars above him. 

On the morrow and the next day, 
When the sun through heaven descending, 
Like a red and burning cinder 
From the hearth of the Great Spirit, 
Fell into the western waters, 
Came Mondamin for the trial, 
For the strife with Hiawatha; 
Came as silent as the dew comes, 
From the empty air appearing, 
Into empty air returning, 
Taking shape when earth it touches, 
But invisible to all men 
In its coming and its going, 

Thrice they wrestled there together 
In the glory of the sunset, 
Till the darkness fell around them, 
Till the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, 
From her nest among the pine-trees, 
Uttered her loud cry of famine, 
And Mondamin paused to listen,. 

Tall and beautiful he stood there, 
In his garments green and yellow; 
To and fro his plumes above him 
Waved and nodded with his breathing, 
And the sweat of the encounter 
Stood like drops of dew upon him. 

And he cried, "O Hiawatha! 
Bravely have you wrestled with me, 
Thrice have wrestled stoutly with me, 
And the Master of Life, who sees us, 
He will give to you the triumph ! ' ' 

Then he smiled, and said: "Tomorrow 
Is the last day of thy conflict, 
Is the last day of your fasting. 
You will conquer and o'ercome me; 



154 FACE TO FACE 

Make a bed for me to lie in, 
Where the rain may fall upon me, 
Where the sun may come and warm me; 
Strip these garments, green and yellow, 
Strip this nodding plumage from me, 
Lay me in the earth, and make it 
Soft and loose and light above me. 

1 1 Let no hand disturb my slumber, 
Let no weed nor worm molest me, 
Let not Kahgahgee, the raven, 
Come to haunt me and molest me, 
Only come thyself to watch me, 
Till I wake, and start, and quicken, 
Till I leap into the sunshine. ' ' 

And thus saying, he departed; 
Peacefully slept Hiawatha, 
But he heard the Wawonaissa, 
Heard the whippoorwill complaining, 
Perched upon his lonely wigwam; 
Heard the rushing Sebowisha, 
Heard the rivulet rippling near him, 
Talking to the darksome forest; 
Heard the sighing of the branches, 
As they lifted and subsided 
At the passing of the night-wind, 
Heard them, as one hears in slumber 
Far-off murmurs, dreamy whispers: 
Peacefully slept Hiawatha. 

On the morrow came Nokomis, 
On the seventh day of his fasting, 
Came with food for Hiawatha, 
Came imploring and bewailing, 
Lest his hunger should o'ercome him, 
Lest his fasting should be fatal. 

But he tasted not, and touched not, 
Only said to her, "Nokomis, 
Wait until the sun is setting, 
Till the darkness falls around us, 
Till the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 155 

Crying from the desolate marshes, 
Tells us that the day is ended." 

Homeward weeping went Nokomis, 
Sorrowing for her Hiawatha, 
Fearing lest his strength should fail him, 
Lest his fasting should be fatal. 
He meanwhile sat weary waiting 
For the coming of Mondamin, 
Till the shadows, pointing eastward, 
Lengthened over field and forest, 
Till the sun dropped from the heaven, 
Floating on the waters westward, 
As a red leaf in the Autumn 
Falls and floats upon the water, 
Falls and sinks into its bosom. 

And behold! the young Mondamin, 
With his soft and shining tresses, 
With his garments green and yellow, 
With his long and glossy plumage, 
Stood and beckoned at the doorway. 
And as one in. slumber walking, 
Pale and haggard, but undaunted, 
From the wigwam Hiawatha 
Came, and wrestled with Mondamin. 

Eound about him spun the landscape, 
Sky and forest reeled together, 
And his strong heart leaped within him, 
As the sturgeon leaps and struggles 
In a net to break its meshes. 
Like a ring of fire around him 
Blazed and flared the red horizon, 
And a hundred suns seemed looking 
At the combat of the wrestlers. 

Suddenly upon the greensward 
All alone stood Hiawatha, 
Panting with his wild exertion, 
Palpitating with the struggle; 
And before him, breathless, lifeless, 
Lay the youth, with hair dishevelled, 



156 PACE TO FACE 

Plumage torn, and garments tattered, 
Dead he lay there in the sunset. 

And victorious Hiawatha 
Made the grave as he commanded, 
Stripped the garments from Mondamin, 
Stripped his tattered plumage from him, 
Laid him in the earth, and made it 
Soft and loose and light above him; 
And the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah, 
From the melancholy moorlands, 
Gave a cry of lamentation, 
Gave a cry of pain and anguish! 

Homeward then went Hiawatha 
To the lodge of old Nokomis, 
And the seven days of his fasting 
Were accomplished and completed. 
But the place was not forgotten 
Where he wrestled with Mondamin; 
Nor forgotten nor neglected 
Was the grave where lay Mondamin, 
Sleeping in the rain and sunshine, 
Where his scattered plumes and garments 
Faded in the rain and sunshine. 

Day by day did Hiawatha 
Go to wait and watch beside it; 
Keep the dark mould soft above it, 
Keep it clean, from weeds and insects, 
Drove away with scoffs and shoutings, 
Kahgahgee, the king of ravens. 

Till at length a small green feather 
From the earth shot slowly upward, 
Then another and another, 
And before the summer ended 
Stood the maize in all its beauty, 
With its shining robes about it, 
And its long, soft, yellow tresses; 
And in rapture Hiawatha 
Cried aloud, "It is Mondamin! 
Yes, the friend of man, Mondamin \" 



WAVES THAT COME TO SHORE 157 

Then he called to old Nokomis 
And Iagoo, the great boaster, 
Showed them where the maize was growing, 
Told them of his wondrous vision, 
Of his wrestling and his triumph, 
Of this new gift to the nations, 
Which should be their food forever. 

And still later, when the Autumn 
Changed the long green leaves to yellow, 
And the soft and juicy kernels 
Grew like wampum hard and yellow, 
Then the ripened ears he gathered, 
Stripped the withered husks from off them, 
As he once had stripped the wrestler, 
Gave the first Feast of Mondamin, 
And made known unto the people 
This new gift of the Great Spirit. 

Our fire has burned low, the corn is still hot in 
the embers, let us strip the ^plumage and eat 
thereof, for is it not one of the greatest gifts of 
the spirit to mankind! 

Our benefits come in visions, in dreams, until 
we can materialize them sufficiently to be of bene- 
fit to man. These visions and dreams that are of 
REAL BENEFIT to the nations, to the people, 
come to those who are seeking the Gift of the 
spirit, like Hiawatha, by prayer and fasting. 
By going into the great open IN THE SPLEN- 
DOR OF SILENCE, with naught but the whis- 
perings of nature, it is then we know and fully 
appreciate the meaning of 
"BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD." 

The rich blessing of the Maize is ever ready to 
be multiplied when mankind seeks the KINGDOM 
FIRST. 



158 FACE TO FACE 

How is it that the white man is so far behind 
his red skinned brother who forgets not to bury 
his war clnbs in harvest time, and blesses his 
fields in time of planting? Had WE the spirit 
of truth, OUE harvest might be more abundant. 
"Superstition, nonsense,' ' says someone. Nay, 
it is neither of these, my friend, but spirit seek- 
ing spirit; where we reach towards the star at 
the top of the tree ; the symbol of spiritual birth ; 
the fullness of all. 



CHAPTER III 
THE DEEP STILL WATERS 

"Be still and KNOW that I am God" 

INGERSOLL: "The Infinite Bible has been 
and is the greatest curse in Christendom, and 
will be as long as it is held to be inspired." 

LOTUS: When we glide our bark over the 
deep still waters of inspirational things to the 
broad sands where lieth the shells of past use- 
fulness, we are quickened with the desire to en- 
liven them with NEW EXPRESSIONS of use- 
fulness; inspiration whispers ART in our souls, 
and we harken. Just tiny shells cast up by the 
sea, yet are they endowed with beauty and color- 
ing of nature's reflected grandeur. The image 
gladdens our heart, creating a NEW THOUGHT 
of the beautiful; the reverie wanders on, to some 
lone hut or palace grand, and there reposes in 
the minds of others, creating a still newer 
thought of beauty and worth. Other hearts are 
made glad, other lives are made joyous. LITTLE 
SHELLS hold the wonderful gift of spirit, the 
power to awaken in man and call forth the ex- 
pressive principles of HIS Divine purpose. 

In the fathomless depths of soul a little song- 
has been sung, the song of the deep still waters ; 
the ripple and rhythm of Infinite wisdom, in 
which all things are made known. 



160 FACE TO FACE 

Who can doubt the spirit of inspiration when 
it is sung in the HEAET of man, the SOUL of 
things, sung in nature's dreams, and sung in 
EVERY EXPRESSION OF LIFE AND 
DEATH. It is the song the Bible has sung from 
the days of yore. 

A chord has been sounded in the soul of man 
in which rings the harmonious strains of heaven 
here and now. Man may vibrate with ecstasy, he 
may weep with joy, he may tremble with fear, 
when he receives his first thrill of inspiration; 
but he will never forget it, it becomes a part of 
his VERY EXISTENCE from that moment, and 
he knows it. He turns, beholding the Bible, and 
he UNDERSTANDS the inspiration of it; it is 
to him as the breath of life. He listens to the 
promptings of the wee small voice, and is blessed. 

God is a LIVING PRESENCE ; let us remem- 
ber this always. A desire for a nearer insight 
into the wonders, beauties and creative principles, 
eventually overcomes the lust for carnal things. 
"IT IS ENOUGH"; we have tasted the vinegar 
of sordid desire; we want HIS LOVE, we want 
HIS CARE, WE WANT TO LIVE in pure con- 
science. We want the sweet spirit of rest and 
peace. This is a redeeming inspiration ascending 
and descending — a Thalia — a muse of joy. It is 
the illumined presence of God working in and 
through our affairs. 

It is the little pebble that holds around it the 
fragments of earth and sand until it becomes 
a great mountain. Herein we find the Divine 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 161 

scheme of things working in unison with the pur- 
pose for which God placed man in the Garden of 
Eden. 

"Ye men of Athens, I perceive that all things 
are too superstitious, for as I passed by and 
beheld your devotions I found altars with the in- 
scription 'To the unknown God,' whom there- 
fore ye ignorantly worship. Him declare I unto 
you; God that made the world and all things 
therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and 
earth, dwelling not in temples made with hands 
as though He needed anything, seeing that He 
giveth to all LIFE, breath and ALL things, and 
hath made of one blood all nations of people to 
dwell upon the face of the earth, and hath deter- 
mined the things before appointed and within 
the bonds of habitation, that they should seek the 
Lord if happily they might find Him, though He 
be not far from any of us, for in Him we have 
our being; and certain of your own poets have 
said, 'For we are His offspring.' We ought not 
to think the hand is like unto silver or gold, or 
stone, or graven art and man's devices." 

INGERSOLL: "Within the universe, the 
supernatural does not exist." 

LOTUS: The supernatural finds expression 
in the various phases within the universe. Like 
the laws of nature, it responds to sunshine, love 
and harmony. It is ABOVE nature yet IN 
nature. It is the supreme influence dwelling in 
conscience. The quickened conscience perceives 



162 FACE TO FACE 

it. It is then no longer a miracle, but the natural 
results of QUICKENED SPIRIT. 

INGERSOLL: "If we admit that some in- 
finite being has controlled the destiny of man, 
persons and people, history becomes a blood- 
curdling and thirsty farce. Age after age the 
strong have trampled the weak, the heartless 
have ensnared the innocent; and not in all the 
dominion of mankind has God cured the 
oppressed woman." 

LOTUS: It is not hard to understand why 
these conditions have existed, when we stop to 
consider that man has not reached the deep 
things of God in the FULL UNDERSTANDING 
of the BOUNDARIES of the soul. That which 
envelops and surrounds us is more or less in- 
fluenced by us ; by the attitude we WILL towards 
things and conditions. When we reach the truth 
in the soul of things, we will not have such con- 
ditions to WORK THROUGH. 

Man has not come into the FULL realization 
that all INTERIOR has an exterior. The in- 
visible cord that binds the two is quickened into 
INTELLIGENT EXPRESSION when man ELE- 
VATES THEM to the standard GOD HAS SET 
FOR MAN. 

We are too apt to shut ourselves in the dark cell 
that breeds unrest and disease, we want to open 
the doors and let in the sunshine of spiritual truth. 
"But whosoever drinketh of the waters that I 
shall give him, shall be as a well of water spring- 
ing up into everlasting life." 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 163 

When we broaden in spiritual truth, we lei the 
bars of limitation down ; Divine love rides through 
in the chariot of perfect understanding, without 
respect of person or sex. 

Man cries from the depths of his soul for a 
PERFECT DAY with his eyes SHUT to TRUTH 
and his ears closed to REASON. To develop the 
perfect day calls for FAITH IN WORKS; for 
the DIVINE expression of LOVE to be made a 
PERPETUAL LAW. 

0, Love Divine— the FRAGRANCE OF SOUL 
entering the realms of the human heart, playing 
upon the harmonica of man's BETTER nature, 
sending forth the incense of ATTUNED GODLI- 
NESS, in which all men are made JOYOUS. 

Man will be able to bear the LIGHT of the per- 
fect day when his soul is quickened in the 
POWER of the great at-one-ness. Then will 
wars be no more. The hungry masses CRY FOR 
PEACE; the dying pray for it; God's little 
children look into our eyes and ask us WHY 
SUCH THINGS EXIST. Big sad eyes seek for 
ONE RAY OF LIGHT by which the soul may be 
fed. 

OUR children are old before their time; old 
beholding the sins of their fathers. Building 
homes with back bent, one eye or none, one arm 
or none; a bit of black bread with, mouldy crust 
is not heaven sent, it is man made. Blood be- 
spattered doorsteps upon which little bare feet 
leave their imprint, searching for the love light 
that has disappeared behind sightless eyes, leave 



164 FACE TO FACE 

in their wake the stamp of hatred buried deep 
within the hearts and minds of these little ones, 
who have been robbed of their childhood. 

The MAN seeks revenge, perchance upon many, 
for the stigma of crime that has hung, like a 
shadow, over his life. Somewhere within his 
being something snapped when he looked within 
those sightless eyes, leaving a mute witness, a 
lost chord. 0, man of sorrows, why linger around 
the melting pot of HAS BEENS. Be a factor, 
working in co-operation with the Divine in 
LITTLE THINGS, where revenge is replaced by 
LOVE, where the outgoing soul redeems, and 
does not grow into degenerate desire. The re- 
deemers of the world today are those who work 
momentarily among the little things that con- 
tinually confront man; thus they are building 
greater destinies, greater souls. They may seem 
to be living a peaceful life, without any effort on 
their part. That 's just it ; it is the quiet dale that 
produces the fragrant and beautiful Lily of the 
Valley, o 'er-shadowed by the mighty power of 
peace. 

Spirit soars; it covers a great area. It is in 
the SOAEING that man learns to overcome. It 
takes just a LITTLE effort to further the great 
principle of glorifying His likeness and image. 
The perfect man stands before us today; all he 
needs is awakening, quickening. Were all the 
energy that is consumed by hatred and revenge 
used to further the interests of the human race, 
this world would be a Home of culture and re- 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 165 

finement, wherein the soul might find rest in the 
spirit of progression. Spirit is so wonderfully 
active in things, when it is met in honest purpose 
and clean motives. 

1 ' There is so much in this world to do, the little 
I could accomplish would amount to little or 
nothing," says someone. Every grain of sugar 
added to the pound adds to its sparkle, its weight 
and its value. Grain by grain the wheat grows 
that feeds the nations. We are too apt to look 
to the neighbors for our chickens, when they are 
peacefully clucking in our own back yard. 

There is so much RIGHT AT HAND, would 
we but take the time to count our blessings one 
by one, so much through which we might work for 
the good of all concerned, though it be in the 
peaceful surroundings of just HOME. We need 
not look to battle fields for a chance to soothe 
the dying, the suffering; we need not look to the 
slums for a chance to cultivate higher motives 
and greater ideals. These come in our own back 
doors unaided, unasked. We would see them 
plainer would we give a little more thought to 
the WELFARE of those who cross our threshold. 

"I would rather not neighbor, it is better not," 
say some. It is one of the GREATEST OPPOR- 
TUNITIES presented to mankind. There is a 
great DIFFERENCE between familiarity and 
"LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF." 
The distinction lies in the simple words, ' ' DO AS 
YOU WOULD BE DONE BY." Not many will 
take advantage of those who help them lift their 



166 FACE TO FACE 

burdens. Time, example, and a gradual infusion 
of Divine light, will help them see the value of a 
friendship not over-ripe. 

Man will eventually come into the FULL 
EEALIZATION that THE WAY has been made 
clear from the days of Adam. He has been 
blindly groping by the wayside when he might 
have been a GREATER SOUL, gained greater 
gain, had he sought the WORD IN THE SPIRIT 
OF TRUTH. There is a great waste in the lives 
of mankind; that waste is INDIFFERENCE to 
the things that are the NEAREST TO HIM. In 
this one expression we will find the answer to 
"Why do the insane treat those they love the 
best with the greatest hatred V 9 It is the IN- 
DIFFERENCE OF MAN TO THE LITTLE 
TREASURES EXPRESSING CONTINUALLY 
IN HIS DAILY LIFE that has made an obses- 
sing force TAKE HOLD of the sane and made 
them insane. 

Call it hereditary traits, if you like; I CALL 
IT INDIFFERENCE to the IMMORTAL 
SPIRIT IN MAN. CHRIST IS COMING! The 
children 's cry proclaims it. ' ' Coming events cast 
their shadows before." There is no greater joy 
than to find oneself attuned to meet them. It is 
the co-mingling of the material and the Divine 
in which God's purpose is glorified. It is the 
substance of His likeness and image finding ex- 
pression in WORKS BY FAITH. W T e may affirm 
the body is all right; we may demand it BE all 
right, but this does not sufficiently cover the law. 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 167 

This is where faith in works has a chance to be 
left out. The body IS, and it must be cared 
for; true. We go to our granary and find the 
bottom has fallen out of the bin, the grain scat- 
tering to the four winds. We do not AFFIRM 
the bottom back in the bin. We have faith in 
our ability to place it back, but we know it takes 
expression to accomplish the end. We remove 
the cause by works, and then give thanks for the 
perfecting of power that has made works pos- 
sible. This is where faith plays its part, where 
spirit plays a great part. To affirm the grinder 
is all right when it is all wrong, is to spill the 
grain: Just so, faith without works is dead. 

We can picture before us a dear one, well 
and strong, and hold the image there until it 
becomes a part of our very existence; but we 
must give them the PLEASUEES, the NECES- 
SITIES, to compel EXPRESSION in SPIRIT 
and in TRUTH within their BEING. 

Mind is a powerful factor; spirit is IN ALL, 
ABOVE ALL, SURROUNDING ALL, but it 
takes the expressive force of DIVINE LOVE 
(which is attentive little pleasantries) to harmon- 
ize the whole. It takes some power to quicken the 
harmonious strains that meet spirit in its enliven- 
ing principles, when it is meant to ENTER and 
HEAL one filled with corruption, disease of mind 
or body. And that force is LOVE. Holding the 
thought of love, in a Divine sense, DOES HEAL; 
but it must be met with ACTION to send its mag- 
netic electric force through corruption. 



168 FACE TO FACE 

An act of love calls forth in the mind of an 
invalid, we will say, some sweet thought of the 
one enacting love. It quickens a BRIGHT 
thought, which is after all but the ILLUMINED 
PRESENCE OF GOD. "How sweet she was to 
bring me this." Sweet thoughts of a friend are 
the LITTLE ROSEBUDS in life that eventually 
blossom in the fullness of their beauty on more 
stems than one. It is none other than grafting 
our loved ones to the GREAT SPIRIT of IN- 
FINITE AWAKENING. The outcome oft pass- 
eth all understanding. To me a friendly expres- 
sion from a friend, or to a friend, enthralls me 
with a Divine feeling of beauty that is not 
equalled in any other expression in life in this 
world of things, for it has taught me what a 
GREAT AMOUNT of GOOD CAN be accom- 
plished THROUGH THINGS, not alone upon 
this plane, but in the KINGDOM OF HIS 
RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

"0, what in the world do you want to give her 
THAT THING FOR?" was asked of one who 
was wrapping up neatly a little package of just 
plain Castor Beans. 

"Why, because I think she would like them; 
anyway, I feel like giving them." 

Later beneath the windows of an apartment 
house there grew castor bean plants. They hid 
from view a place that was not only an eyesore, 
but a heartache. One day a girl, gayly attired 
stopped and asked the lady who owned the plants 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 169 

to permit her to linger a moment among them. 
The lady hesitated only a moment — 

"Come in, dear; why do you want to linger 
under my castor beans ?" 

"Because we had them on the farm. OH, 
WOULD I WERE AS I WAS THEN!" 

"And can't you be? WHY NOT BE LIKE 
THE CASTOR PLANTS YOU LIKE; BE 
HARDY, STRONG, and DETERMINED to 
grow in wholesome ground?" 

The girl smiled through her tears: "WHAT 
A BEAUTIFUL THOUGHT! I— I'M GOING 
HOME! And I'm going to PLANT CASTOR 
BEANS on MOTHER'S GRAVE; she'll under- 
stand. And I'm going to be like them. I'm go- 
ing to keep house for my old Dad and little Ger- 
trude; she — she needs me." 

When we do these LITTLE THINGS we do 
not know HOW they are going to be spiritual- 
ized, or how many souls it may appeal to, or what 
kind of souls it may save. We do not know why, 
but GOD DOES, for He has planted within us 
the desire to DO. It is HAPPINESS to know 
and see and feel the spirit working in and through 
our affairs, our souls. It is then we come into 
the great understanding of the spirit that moved 
upon the face of the waters. In place of won- 
derment, we see the NATURAL PRODUCTION 
of the spoken word. 

Were that word not spoken, what then? Does 
this not exemplify the necessity of works through 



170 FACE TO FACE 

faith? Does it not magnify the POWER of 
spirit to penetrate and enliven even castor bean 
plants, one of the least of these, one of the 
coarser of these, and one of the MOST BEAU- 
TIFUL in its STRENGTH? 

The one who plants the more common-place 
plants among the beautiful in his garden, will 
find them expressing in a WAY man has not 
dreamed of. In the veins of the coarser leaves, 
the sturdy stocks, there runs the same Divine 
purpose that threads its way through the more 
delicate and frail. The harmony that abounds 
when these two come in contact one with the other, 
waylays the flash of color that is sometimes ex- 
pressed in the coarser, and brings to the surface 
the exquisite veining and coloring that STANDS 
OUT SO CLEAR in its COMPARISON. It takes 
these two to SHOCK our sense, as it were, into 
the REALIZATION that BOTH of these are 
beautiful, both harmonious, when we are enabled 
to SEE THE TRUTH IN THEM. 

What could be more beautiful than a plant of 
castor beans hovering, like a protecting spirit, 
above a tender little fern that could not live 
without its shade? What more beautiful than a 
field of waving corn surrounded by a beautiful 
green hedge, no matter at what season it may 
appear in the LIFE of the corn! One season 
shows its delicate green, another its golden sheen ; 
what then but the co-mingling of harvest and 
spring, winter and fall. 

And this is not all sentiment; it is WISDOM, 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 171 

the Divine, showing us the way. "I AM THE 
WAY." It is the WAY we harmonize these 
things, by right thinking, that makes their value 
apparent to us. 

Works through faith is an ART in which God 
will work with us, if we will open our souls to 
the inflow of the DIVINE SUBSTANCE IN 
THINGS. To spiritualize the material, is to 
bring it into Divine harmony. The Bible teaches 
us this. Faith in works unlocks the doors of 
limitation, not alone for self, but for all things in 
the earth, under the earth, and above the earth; 
for there are some that, even now, do not know 
the boundaries of the soul. 

It is the nature of corruption to keep on affirm- 
ing its destructive forces as long as there is the 
least outlet for its escape, whether it be corrupt 
mind, deed or disease. The antidote is pure con- 
science, faith in works, Nature's Divine remedies, 
nature's medicinal remedies. " First Aid": — 
Appreciation of our supply. 

"And I will bring the blind by a way they 
know not; I will lead them in paths THAT they 
have not known: I will make darkness light be- 
fore them, and crooked things straight. These 
things will I do unto them, and not forsake 
them. " a I am the Lord ; that IS my name ; And 
I will not give to another neither my praise nor 
graven images." 

"But this is a people robbed and spoiled; 
THEY ARE all of them snared in holes, and they 
are hid in prison houses; they are for a prey, 



172 FACE TO FACE 

and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none say 
RESTORE." 

"Who among you will give ear to this? WHO 
will harken and hear for the time to come? I, 
EVEN I, AM the Lord; and beside me THERE 
IS no Saviour.' ' 

The Bible is a work of SOUL ART; it is the 
WORD of one who said: "I, EVEN I, am 
LORD. " In it is the redeeming quality of FAITH 
by works. It is the substance of HIS WILL. It 
is an inspired account of what was and is, and 
will be, a prophecy, a truth, a book of love, a 
book of commandments that would redeem the 
world from sickness, sin and death, were these 
commandments OBEYED. In its grandeur there 
can be no imitation. It stands alone, the ONE 
INSPIRED BOOK of soul culture, history and 
Infinite wisdom. "The Lord my God seest me" 
is one of the thrills that descend through the 
vaporous ether, an inspiration to those who seek 
Him. In it is so much that is wonderful, THE 
LORD, MY GOD, seest me. The profound fact 
rings in every word that HE IS near; His per- 
sonal presence is an inspiration to one and all 
alike, whether it be in writing, works of a ma- 
terial nature, art, literature, the GREAT things 
or the LITTLE things, "THE LORD MY GOD 
SEEST ME." 

The scriptures are wholesome, and give joy 
to those who will wade through material things 
to reach it. The Bible is an inspired book with 
BIG WINDOWS where we may look into the 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 173 

great open fields of spirit, and therein become 
happy, wholesome and strong. The truth has 
ever been fought for, will be fought for, until 
it is expressed fully in the lives of mankind. 

The curse rests with him who carries his doubts 
around the world in a pack, until they become 
worm-eaten objects contaminating the peace and 
happiness of countless souls. Such thoughts 
breed discontent with self, with God and the uni- 
verse. 

The wholesome man's house is a perpetual 
inspiration, in which the most sacred moments 
of his life are spent, the most restful, the most 
wonderful. The Bible is the foundation of that 
home. In it lies the destiny of man. 

I have so many times been thankful for the 
hours of prayer that have been spent in the 
homes of those near and dear to me; there was 
an atmosphere there whose fragrance will never 
leave me. Home prayer is the most momentous 
moment in the life of a family, though it may 
seem not so at the time. Its influence is broad- 
cast. The WOBDS, so beautifully uttered by 
the lips we love, never lose their influence. 

We rise from our knees and look wonderingly 
at last year's spray of mistletoe we had dreaded 
to throw away, and somehow it teaches us again 
and again, in its wondrous way, to hold together, 
though the strand seems weak. It teaches us 
unity of purpose; even though it be a parasite 
living on others, still it brings in return a strange 
fascinating chivalry with the Yule log; an artis- 



174 FACE TO FACE 

tic stream of prose and poetry, love, romance 
and dreams; a spirit that penetrates the hearts 
of old and young alike with the joy of the first 
kiss, and the sweet assurance abiding in the last. 
Triumphantly it hangs its beautiful branches 
upon our most sacred memories, never to be for- 
gotten. 

We feel His illumined presence as we walk to 
the window, proclaiming the beauty of the morn- 
ing, when we are attracted by a swarm of honey 
bees happily humming around yonder tree. It is 
one of the schemes in nature TO FILL THE 
KNOT HOLES WITH HONEY. It is the supply 
of God's kingdom descending for the use of man. 
It is the song God sings in the heart of nature, 
the song of truth, the inspiration of love. 
"GO THOU AND DO LIKEWISE.'' 

This proclaims His love, His goodness, His 
wisdom, His mercy, in little things not made with 
hands. PRAISE BE. 

INGERSOLL: "Why should there be more 
than one correct account of what happened ? Why 
were four gospels necessary? It seems to me 
that one inspired gospel containing all that hap- 
pened, was enough copies of one correct ac- 
count. According to Dr. Davidson, it remains 
a guess that there were four in number, because 
there are four universal winds, four corners of 
the globe. Others have said, ' There are four sea- 
sons,' and these gentlemen might have added, 
' Because a donkey has four legs.' " 

LOTUS : Let us go to the heart of things for 






THE DEEP STILL WATERS 175 

our answer. FOUR represents the generating 
virtues whence come all combinations, is the most 
perfect of numbers, the root of all things. It is 
Holy in nature, since it constitutes the Divine 
essence by recalling HIS UNITY, His power, 
His goodness and His wisdom, "the four perfec- 
tions which especially characterize God." 
EVERYTHING has a DIVINE SUBSTANCE, 
exemplified through the DIVINE ESSENCE of 
His power, unity, wisdom and love. 

"You cannot improve on Me at all saith 
the Lord." 

INGERSOLL: "The object of the Old Testa- 
ment is the cruelty said to have been commanded 
by God. And all these cruelties caused death." 

LOTUS : The CAUSE of sin is strongly pic- 
tured in the Old Testament; how to overcome 
sin is equally as strongly pictured in the NEW. 
It is not because man does not understand the 
commandments that they are not obeyed; it is 
because he fears them, fears to let go the things 
necessary to enact them. We are COMPELLED 
to see the result of disobedience to the higher law 
through sorrow and disappointments. 

INGERSOLL: "I do not want to be born 
again. ' ' 

LOTUS: God gives to EVERY MAN LIB- 
ERTY. Just as long as man neglects the call of 
His likeness and image, just that long will he 
struggle in darkness. To adhere to the truth in 
all things is to accept Christ; it is to have a new 
heart; it is to be BORN AGAIN. 



176 FACE TO FACE 

The fruit of the spirit is like the paw-paw 
tree; it hangs low, within the reach of man; the 
secret is KNOWING how to receive it. Man 
does not always see the road clear to obtain it, 
because he refuses to let go the things that are 
necessary to pure conscience, in which all things 
pure are habitable: "the spirit and the fruit 
thereof. ' ' 

It is opportune here to mention some queries 
presented by L. B. Benjamin some time back. 
He remarked also that these queries had never 
been answered. But he does not say they might 
NEVEE BE ANSWERED. 

L. B. BENJAMIN: "Can you tell me why 
the Christian priests destroyed nearly all the 
Historical writings of PLOTINUS?" 

LOTUS: To CONSERVE the moral conduct 
of future generations, fearing they might be MIS- 
UNDERSTOOD and MISUSED. 

L. B. BENJAMIN: "Can you tell me why 
POPE GEORGE VII destroyed the Library of 
the PALATINE APOLLONIUS which contained 
the whole of the writings of the school of ALEX- 
ANDRIA, from days of POTAMON to the one 
MAXTMUSf" 

LOTUS: They did not conform to the 
IDEALS of Pope George VII in that it would 
affect the literature of the present day, against 
Catholicism; that is, it held too many varying 
statements to be at large, according to Pope 
George's ideals. 

He had another plan by which he HOPED to 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 177 

gain the attentions of the universe. This hope 
was never fulfilled. Had it been there would have 
been an entirely different conception of religious 
tactics, and would have very materially helped 
the world. 

The motives of Pope George VII were good; 
his tactics severe. He was above the average 
man in spiritual qualities; he held not only the 
spiritual sacred but the material as well. He had 
a gnawing fear that the world at large would 
sooner or later be contaminated with what he 
BELIEVED to be a wrong. 

L. B. BENJAMIN: "Can you tell why the 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES have been handed 
down as Acts of the Apostles of Christ, when it 
was fully understood up to 323 A. D. that the 
story related to the acts of the Apollonius of 
Layana?" 

LOTUS: The ACTS were sincerely and Di- 
vinely whole. The authors of them were no 
doubt the reflection of the world-wide theopsy 
of Layana, inasmuch as they were delivered at 
the time of Christ. 

Man must become attuned to receive Divine 
Truth; it takes a great amount of patience, faith 
and self sacrifice to reach the SOUECE of Di- 
vine understanding. We must learn to watch, 
wait and pray. Just because the voice says little 
things, is no cause to turn aside from it. Obe- 
dience to the first call leads to greater, grander 
heights, until it develops into the great at-one- 
ness, in which all things are made possible. When 



178 FACE TO FACE 

we ask questions of mortal man we want to take 
God into our plans. The answer will come with- 
out effort, and to us personally, in some unseen 
way, by some unseen force, that will materialize 
the truth for us. 

INGERSOLL: "According to the Bible, Je- 
hovah made the world in live days, and the work 
done each day is described. What did Jehovah 
do on the second day? This is the record: 'And 
the Lord said, let there be a firmament in the 
midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters 
from the waters.' 'And God made the firma- 
ment and divided the waters which were above 
the firmament, heaven, and the evening and the 
morning were the second day.' 

"The writer of this believed in a solid firma- 
ment, the floor of Jehovah's house. He believed 
that waters had been divided, and that the rain 
came from above the firmament and did not un- 
derstand the fact of evaporation; did not know 
that the rain came down from the waters on the 
earth. Now, we know there is no firmament, 
and we know that waters are not divided by a 
firmament; consequently we know that, accord- 
ing to the Bible, Jehovah did nothing on the sec- 
ond day. He must have rested on Tuesday. This 
being so, we ought to have two Sundays." 

LOTUS : It would seem that the second day 
was the one in which He did the GREATEST 
work. LET THERE BE A FIRMAMENT. 
The POWER OF THE SPOKEN WORD. We 
also know that above the earth there exist 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 179 

realms of a higher intelligence than our own. 
If you do not know this, you have never sought 
the working power of higher intelligences. 

"In the beginning God created the heavens 
and the earth, and the earth was without form 
and void, and darkness was upon the face of the 
deep, and the SPIRIT OF GOD MOVED upon 
the face of the water, and God said, 'LET 
THERE BE LIGHT and THERE WAS 
LIGHT.' God saw that the light was good, and 
God divided the light from darkness, and God 
called the light DAY, and the darkness He called 
NIGHT, and the evening and the morning were 
the FIRST day. And God said, Let there be a 
firmament in the midst of the waters, and let 
it divide the waters from the waters, and God 
made the firmament and DIVIDED the waters 
which were above the firmament from the waters 
which were under the firmament, and IT WAS 
SO. And God called the firmament heaven, and 
the evening and the morning were the second 
day." 

Spirit is a vital force, dynamic, electrical, mag- 
netic, chemical, substance; Spirit is light, electric 
energy. Light in air has a velocity of 299,828 
kilometers per second. As spirit is LIGHT, in- 
telligence, it must travel at the same rate. Its 
dynamic nature would intensify this fact; hence 
Spirit is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient 
power that MOVED ON THE FACE OF THE 
WATER. 

THE SECOND DAY (TUESDAY) was a day 



180 FACE TO FACE 

of SPIRITUAL TRIUMPH. We have a spirit, 
spirit has a home; ether is a subtle medium fill- 
ing space; there, we have a firmament. 

INGERSOLL: "There was issuing from the 
garden a river that was parted into four heads; 
the first of these, Pison, compassed the Holy 
Land HAVILAH; and the second, GIHON, that 
composed the whole land of ETHIOPIA; the 
third, HEDDEAEL, that flowed towards the 
east, ASSYRIA; and the fourth, EUPHRATES. 
Where are THESE FOUR RIVERS NOW? The 
brave prow of discovery has visited every sea, 
the traveler has pressed with weary feet the soil 
of every clime, and yet there have been found 
no place from which four rivers sprang. The 
EUPHRATES still journeys to the gulf, but 
where are Pison and Gihon and the mighty 
HEDDEAEL! The account of these four rivers 
is what the Rev. David Swing would call a geo- 
graphical poem. The Orthodox covers the whole 
affair with the blanket of ALLEGORY." 

LOTUS : Some few years ago it was my pleas- 
ure to meet an old Egyptian named OL'AH. We 
conversed at length upon this subject, as it had 
always been of great interest to me. I will give 
you OL'AH'S version of it. 

"The formation of onyx and gold would tend 
to point to the fact that these four heads, so to 
speak, were formed underground; undoubtedly 
an underground current, or after the manner of 
an underground current. These are more power- 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 181 

ful and natural than mankind usually imagines 
them to be. 

"Bemarkable instances of erosive action are 
almost everywhere to be observed; rivers have 
hollowed out channels through great mountain 
ranges. This would be called not only powerful, 
but MIGHTY; yet, it is but the persistent push- 
ing forward, brooking no stoppage, that accom- 
plished it. This same expression could take place 
underground. A hundred theories COULD be 
supplied, but the resounding fact remains that 
man has ever looked on the surface of things, 
forgetting there is great food for thought, great 
truths, great wonders, in the substance beneath 
the surface. Wonderful wellsprings of wealth 
and beauty lieth there. 

"We would say in Egypt, 'the camels bend 
their knees because they find wisdom as well as 
rest, chewing the cud of Madrigal. ' So let the 
rivers flow on, little friend, near kin thou art 
to them. ,, 

We said good-by for the day, leaving me won- 
dering. Why kin I, to rivers, great or small? 

OL'AH will soon be speeding along in a bor- 
rowed Pulkha, for it is the dream of his dear old 
heart to live for a time with the Laplander, that 
he may return again bringing more wisdom. He 
is a man of many travels, a man that lives very 
close to God, seeking wisdom in all things. Our 
pumpkins in a pie were his greatest wonder, 
and was enough, thought he, to wag his head in 
friendly fashion to all pumpkin venders. 



182 FACE TO FACE 

INGERSOLL: "Can any reason be given for 
not allowing man to eat of the fruit of the tree 
of knowledge? What kind of tree was it? If it 
was all an ALLEGORY, what truth is sought to 
be conveyed? Why should God object to the 
fruit being eaten by man? Why did he put it in 
the Garden of Eden? There was certainly plenty 
of room outside. If he wanted to keep the tree 
and man apart, why did he put them together? 
And why, after he had eaten, did he thrust them 
out?" 
LOTUS : 

Oh tempter, serpent, from whence spring- 

est thou? 
Out of the fount of knowledge of sinful 

things, I vow. 
It was true with Adam, and it is true with 

you, 
Awake, oh mortal man, to the pure, the true ! 

Why did God plant the tree in the Garden of 
Eden and place man therein? Because it is a 
part of the great scheme of evolution. Adam and 
Eve were spiritual beings, but not EXALTED 
spiritual beings. The spirit, by EXPERIENCE 
through the material, evolutionizes to its proper 
sphere, as <?old is refined by fire. Spirit is NOT 
INFALLIBLE TO TEMPTATIONS until it IS 
exalted by the power of overcoming trials and 
temptations; until it has withdrawn into the 
shelter of His truths, wherein there can be no 
error; hence: 

' ' Get thee behind me, Satan. ' ' 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 183 

The fall of Adam created a new condition in 
Adam that did not harmonize with pure spirit in 
the Garden of Eden, so he was transplanted to 
an environment he had created for himself; 
nevertheless, he wore the coat of God's eternal 
care and protection. 

We cannot pass through this world and not 
leave pictures on the wall VISIBLE to spirit, 
FELT by mortal, ENACTED by the susceptible, 
ENFORCED by evil. To act criminally is to 
incriminate. To enact the beautiful, is to come 
in tune with the laws of the universe, the laws 
of nature: hence the tuneful setting of vibrant 
chords "In tune with the Infinite." The melody 
of Divine knowledge is quickly attained; in fact, 
it is already obtained. 

INGEESOLL: "Why did God call to Adam 
in the cool of the day?" 

LOTUS : Because it is then the ether is purged 
with purity. In the cool of the day, in this day 
and age, commerce loses the fever of effort, birds 
huddle closer to their brood, inciting sleep ; MAN 
seeks the shelter of home, peace and rest. The 
cool of the day is not only purged with ethereal 
purity, but the earth takes on activities in growth, 
LIFE. Vegetation is quickened and refreshed; 
thus we experience the harmonious workings of 
Divine purpose that embraces ALL. The fevered 
brow, the parched fields, the tired animals relax 
and become active in repose of soul. 

Again we find the sweetest LYEIC ever sung: 

' ' The pure in heart shall see God. ' ' 



184 FACE TO FACE 

Earth is a dormant mass that holds the quali- 
ties of LIFE. It has an abundance of healing 
qualities that aside from life tend to complete 
life. It holds a great creative principle that is 
marvelous in constructive principles. THE LIT- 
TLE HANDFUL OF EAETH we term city lots 
may hold YOUR LIFE in its meshes. It has the 
power to give strength and pleasure, so quietly, 
so softly, that you do not realize it as one of the 
POWERS THAT BE. We have not as yet fath- 
omed the full value of magnetic qualities in earth. 
These are free agents quietly waiting for the 
intelligence of man to bring forth the facts and 
expressive forces for the welfare of man. 

It is wonderful to look in the face of a fellow 
man and see the BEGINNING OF LIGHT, the 
end of which is not seen by mortal eye: Light 
may come e'en through the bewitching little 
springs that we come across so unexpectedly on 
our journeys o'er hill and dale. They give to 
us not alone the refreshing water, but feed the 
soul with a delightful charm and beauty. When 
the soul is fed with the picturesque, it soothes 
away the hard and rugged, and infuses a spirit- 
ual loveliness. The esthetic nature is gratified, 
and we return home with the blessings of bea- 
tific vision surging within our souls. 

As the earth was first etherealized, and then 
materialized, and all that is therein, it is a Divine 
GIFT, coming from a Divine SOURCE, and is 
electrical in composition and power, proving con- 
clusively that God created the world. 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 185 

The subtle electrical force of spirit, the peculiar 
properties of water brought together, may have a 
greater tendency to create and enliven than man 
may suppose. The power of the spoken word 
etherealizes, and then materializes, thought ob- 
jects. When we pause to drink at the fount of 
spiritual knowledge we kiss the hem of His gar- 
ment, wherein He reveals unto us new truths, 
that we may rise and see Him face to face. 

THE WAKE EOBIN'S SECRET THOUGHT 
Thoughts that are good, where goest 

thou? 
* ' On to the next impressionable Mind that 

enacts me." 
Thoughts that are evil, where goest thou 1 
"I find my kind, and seek to bury my 

talons in them." 
Christlike thoughts go home to God. Evil 
thoughts, like Aaron's rod, a ser- 
pent turneth into. 

INGERSOLL: "Why should God demand 
praise V 

LOTUS : Until man becomes ATTUNED TO 
GOD AND THE HIGHER FORCES, he CAN- 
NOT SING PRAISES. Praise is an expression 
of SOUL FILLED WITH LIGHT. When man 
comes into the realization of his OWN INHER- 
ENT POWERS, his soul will sing out at the 
GLORY OF THE LORD; Praise with celestial 
ardor, bounds to the God who beckons ; The Lord 
is risen! Lord of Lords, and Host of Hosts! 



186 FACE TO FACE 

To live in the highest expression of trnth is to 
praise the Lord continually. We praise the Lord 
when we use our minds intelligently in PUEE 
CONSCIENCE. 

The Wake Kobin was calling. I was happy. 

OL'AH had come again to see the country he 
had so learned to love. We were quietly talking 
away when he expressed a desire to go to Spook 
Hollow, about seven and one-half miles from the 
center of the city. Gladly I accepted, contempla- 
ting a good story by the way. 

We wandered near the ruins of an old fort, 
coming to Spook Hollow about sunset. We soon 
came to an old tower. It looked weird, seemingly 
without top or bottom, toppling on its side in 
such fantastic manner. I looked amazedly about ; 
a glad cry came from my lips as I plucked a rose 
from a bush on which there was not a leaf or bud 
left, just that one lone rose. I raised the beauti- 
ful flower to the lips of my friend: "Poor thing/ ' 
I said, "it is so lonely !" 

"Nay, my child,' ' said 01 'ah with emotion, "it 
is shedding its fragrance in God's garden. Come, 
child; let us mount our camels in fancy and go 
to Egypt, to the Valley of the Nile. 

"It is about this time of the evening, we will 
say; a beautiful Mohammedan lady stands in 
front of SEPH, hanging her head in distress ; she 
looks up like a wounded deer at bay : ' OH WHY 
does not the COMFOETEE COME? When I 
was in ABU HASHIM (Echo Hill) the spirit 
CEIED WITHIN ME ; but over the sea I could 
feel coming towards me the INFINITE GLOEY 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 187 

OF A NEW GOD, A GOD WHO SPOKE TO 
MY HEAKT, A GOD SUCH AS I BAVE 
NEVER SEEN; OH WHY does He not come? I 
WILL AWAY— AWAY— until I HAVE FOUND 
THIS strange new God who speaks to the hearts 
of men!' 

"To Cairo she begged her father to take her. 
After many months they arrived. 'On, on to 
ELVANDRA!' she cried. Her heart was heavy 
within her; she had not yet found her God. 

' ' One lovely Sabbath morning the beautiful one 
sought a friend whom she asked to take her to a 
place where she might find this God of her 
dreams, whose voice she had heard in the silence 
of soul. The friend saw her need, and took her 
to COPPTA, where they taught the CHRISTIAN 
RELIGION. Her eyes wandered dreamily over 
those within; she murmured, 'The GOD — I can- 
not see; but HERE, HERE, I FEEL— I FEEL!' 
striking her breast in ecstasv. 'THE CHRIS- 
TIAN MAN, HE SPEAKS GOD, and I— I 
KNOW!' 

"And so," said Ol'ah, "she kept her heart per- 
fect unto the coming of the Lord. Happy the 
heart of one who SPEAKS the WORD OF 
GOD." 

We wandered back home through the fast 
gathering twilight; I held my rose TIGHT; the 
heart of the Wake Robin throbbing happily 
against my bosom. 

INGERSOLL: "I believe in observation, 
reason and experience, the blessed trinity of 



188 FACE TO FACE 

LOTUS: Eeason is within the vale of JUS- 
TICE, which is Godliness. Observation is not 
dependable at ALL TIMES; too many see 
through SMOKED GLASSES. Science is all 
this, and more; WAS, from the beginning. Some 
experiences oppose the growth of the soul; man 
puts on the Toga of ADVEESITY, making him- 
self UNABLE to judge or reason. The science 
of the Bible tells us HOW to HARMONIZE 
EXPERIENCE, OBSERVATION and REA- 
SON into one perfect EVER PRESENT PRIN- 
CIPLE, KNOWLEDGE, UNITY WITH DI- 
VINE. MAGNITUDE of THOUGHT depends 
upon being in TUNE with Divine INTELLI- 
GENCE, in which flow the crystal stream of 
EXACTNESS, PERFECTNESS, which is 
FOUR SQUARE, the generating virtues, the 
ROOT OF ALL THINGS, UNITY, GOODNESS, 
WISDOM. 

INGERSOLL: "The story of Lot's wife be- 
ing turned into a pillar of salt is extremely un- 
scientific." 

LOTUS: On the contrary, it IS Science, 
through which the Divine worketh. STALKING 
PARALYSIS is a PRIMEVAL DISEASE, and 
is most often caused by fear or dread. When 
Lot's wife turned back, she may have been ter- 
rorized by some thought of fear for herself or 
Lot, thus paralyzing the nerve centers, causing 
STALKING PARALYSIS. We must take also 
into consideration that the body has much salt 
or sodium in its composition. Just what chemi- 






THE DEEP STILL WATERS 189 

cal change would take place after the death of 
the body, would depend upon the climatic and 
ethereal conditions. 

Salt and sodium enfold crystallized ether. 
There being great beds of salt in that part of 
the country, the ether or air would naturally be 
permeated with it. It is not impossible that 
Lot's wife was affected with stalking paralysis. 
Lime eats the body when it is covered with its 
biting substance; then why should not salt, with 
its penetrating crystallizing effect, turn a body 
into a pillar of salt, undergoing a chemical 
change? 

Aside from that, a lesson is taught by the inci- 
dent, whether it be STALKING PARALYSIS, 
the POWER OF THE SPOKEN WORD, OR 
BOTH. It is this : That those looking back find 
the way undone. Time goes on, man goes on, 
there is no backward tread to progression. The 
skeleton lingers in the background, the soul 
goes on. . DUST TO DUST is but a phase of 
what HAS been, not what IS. Lot's wife was 
told to GO ON and NOT look back; also, she 
was given the substance (body) to go on. 

THERE IS A TIME WHEN A LAUGH is 
not a laugh, but the echo of a SHRUNKEN 
SOUL. 

ONWABD 

INGERSOLL: "FOR three hundred years 
the Christian world endeavored to rescue from 
the infidel the empty sepulcher of Christ. For 
three hundred years the army of the cross was 



190 FACE TO FACE 

baffled and beaten by the victorious beasts of an 
impudent impostor. The people found that com- 
merce made friends where religion made enemies. 
For ages a deadly conflict has been waged be- 
tween a few brave men and women of thought 
and genius upon one side, and the great IGNO- 
RANT RELIGIOUS MASS on the other. 

LOTUS: Commerce makes friends just so 
long as it profits the universal mind. Back of 
the friendship of commerce rises a great desire 
to build cities, clean cities, to inhabit them, with 
churches, with art, culture, refinement; back of 
the great commercial world lies the force that 
DOES things. The great religious masses have 
built churches for the "FEW LITTLE BRAVE 
MEN" to play peek-a-boo around, while they 
were BUSY BUILDING wonderful tabernacles 
for the growth of the soul. This great mass 
wanted to build institutions, wanted to grow, and 
they DID grow. They wanted to provide homes 
for those who could not provide homes for them- 
selves when the frost of time comes on and they 
find themselves homeless. 

Had we no religious tactics, the few little brave 
men would have to hide their women folk in the 
cellar. We should have more respect UNTO 
OUR OWN. We are liberators in one GREAT 
CAUSE — the betterment of humanity. This 
state cannot be found until man shows more 
respect for his fellow man; until he ceases to 
lind fault, and lends a hand to BETTER condi- 
tions, through the perfecting of self 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 191 

There is nothing worth having unless it is 
worth working for. GOD IS AT THE HELM ; 
HE WILL HELP YOU OVER and OVER 
AGAIN. We never fully appreciate anything 
until someone tries to take it away from us. 
Dost not know the difference between carnate 
and decarnate life (Life expressing in a spirit- 
ual sense, or life expressing in a material sense) 1 

Our needs will be supplied, whether it be then 
or now, that immortal day when we find the way 
to the seven or eight, or maybe more. But God 
is in the firmament. 

Life is not a fable, but fact, and must be met 
AS FACT. Fact is the supreme knot that binds 
man to reason. A life lived against the highest 
principles of being leads on down, down, to the 
gallows; for such is the soul in bondage, ever 
hanging, never hung; eternal punishment, or the 
agony of sin. 

INGERSOLL: "The church says, 'Believe 
and obey.' If you reason, you will become a 
non-believer; you will be lost. If you obey, you 
will do so through vain curiosity, and that will, 
like Adam and Eve, thrust you from the Garden 
forever. ' ' 

LOTUS: Obedience is the FIRST LAW OF 
NATURE; it is the HIGHEST expression of 
order. Spring uncovers her head from the win- 
try snows; once uncovered she obeys the law 
of EXISTING FORCES until the harvest comes 
on, when it plays a GREATER part in the wel- 
fare of man and beast. Nothing is lost in nat- 



192 FACE TO FACE 

ural obedience. Obedience is a law; without law, 
chaos; we would flounder in the deep sea of 
ignorance, a prey to the vultures of indifferent 
society. OBEDIENCE IS DEMANDED BY 
EVERY LAW OF NATURE. Obedience is 
spontaneous response to mechanical construction, 
to the laws of nature, to the laws of God and 
man. The great universe is built on obedience. 
The little chick, for instance, hardly out of its 
shell, responds in obedience to the mother's ex- 
cited cluck. Animal life responds in like man- 
ner; in fact, we are obeying the call of higher 
forces, and thus respond to the laws, as do the 
flowers to the rain. 

I believe in government, in righteous law; I 
believe in helping those who are unable to help 
themselves ; I believe in God, the creator of man ; 
I believe in my fellowman. 

There never was a sermon that did not IN 
SOME WAY SHOW THE HAND OF GOD, 
were we spiritual enough to see it. There is 
ALWAYS SOMETHING we can take hold of 
in ALL things, and make use of TO OUR GOOD, 
WILL we do so. The human mind is not held 
in bondage by any mortal mind, church, or body 
of churches, where GOD IS AT THE HELM. 
The most of us go to church, like a ship at sea 
without a compass; we drift with the tide of 
worldly minds, wondering what we are going 
to hear next; WILL IT BE A DRY SERMON? 
Hence the lack of interest. 

Seek the soul within you, search it well; if 
the SERMON does not appeal to you, then there 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 193 

is the spirit of truth that will heal you, refresh 
you, rest you. If you will but go in the silence 
with God, learning to overcome obstacles what- 
ever their nature may be, although the sermon 
be EVER SO DRY, there is always something 
that CAN and WILL help you. If you will seek 
it in the house of God AS the house of God, then 
there is something there for YOU, and a great 
many SOMETHINGS. The minister is talking 
about God, about the works of God, have re- 
spect unto Him. When God is busy, respect 
the silence. A real live interest must begin in 
the heart for the word of God, wherever it 
may be found. 

If you understand fully the principle which 
the man of God is trying to hold before your 
eyes, if you understand the power working with- 
in that man, if you understand that inspiration 
MUST FIND A HOME SUITED TO ITS 
TRUTHS, it will be easier for you to grasp the 
word of God and apply it to your use. You can 
be at HOME to the highest inspiration, if you 
will but set the forces to work to attract it. 

It is in the silence that the working principle 
is set in motion for greater attainments. It is 
there we learn to walk with the spirit, and sing 
with the spirit, until our soul expands like some 
wondrous flower, stirring with some strange, 
enraptured power. The value of the silence is 
THIS: That it enables man to develop on the 
heights UNINTERRUPTED by the world. We 
are then enabled to realize that we are spirit 
NOW, and that we are enabled to dwell with 



194 FACE TO FACE 

the spirit NOW. The more mankind dwelleth 
upon the heights, the more he walks with the 
spirit in understanding also. To walk with the 
spirit is to imbibe the joys of life. 

Heed not the fall of the cinder, it can do 
naught but sting. 

"If the world hate you, you know it hated 
Me before it hated you. Howbeit then that the 
spirit of truth is come? He will guide you in all 
truth.' ' 

"But I know even now, that whatsoever thou 
wouldst ask of God, God will give it you. ,, 

"Verily I say unto you, he that receiveth 
whomsoever I send, receiveth Me." 

This a poem, a reverie, a joy! 

INGEESOLL: "A poem is produced by the 
forces of nature. You will seek in vain for a 
thought in man's brain without efficient cause. 
Every mental operation is the necessary re- 
sult of certain facts and conditions. Mental phe- 
nomena are considered more complicated than 
those of matter, then consequently more mys- 
terious. Being more mysterious they are con- 
sidered better evidence of an existing God." 

LOTUS : A poem is a soul song. It is inspired 
by the promptings of one being in tune with the 
FORCES SET TO WORK IN NATURE. As 
we awaken in soul truth, a responding chord is 
struck within the soul of man, finding expres- 
sion in words, as it has reached a higher or 
lower ideal. Poems are music of the soul, wheth- 
er they be celestial, classical, ragtime or indif- 
ferent. The chord that is touched sends forth to 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 195 

the world a song, a soul thought. Matter, being 
the manifestation of spirit, does away with fact, 
and runs to fancy. Verse is made of things 
seen, and things unseen; things that were, and 
are to be; things heard, and things unheard. 
Verse is a work of spontaneous soul thought. 
It should be a free agent, written in the manner 
in which it comes to the soul of man. As light- 
ning finds its way to a near-by tree, so themes 
take hold of man's nature, bringing forth in all 
its thunders of intensity, the soul on paper. 

A theme sometimes falls on the hearts and 
minds of men as the Yuletide bells; a certain 
Christ-like harmony stirs in the soul of him who 
hears. It would be sacrilegious to tamper with 
such vibrations. 

Again inspiration may come to man as a flick- 
ering shadow. He senses it at the time, but it 
does not make an EXPRESSIVE expression un- 
til later when the connecting link sends it thrill- 
ing through his erstwhile labors. 

Inspiration does not come to those who have, 
ordinarily speaking a desire to be a hard-boiled 
egg; life is extinct in a hard-boiled egg; therein 
lieth the phenomenal mystery, matter, spirit. 
The entire significance of inspiration and life of 
man is, that man is a spiritual being, immortal 
by nature, progressive by development, made in 
His likeness and image, corrupted by immorality, 
redeemed by spirituality. 

According to the AMOUNT of truth in the 
subject, according to the tuning of the receiving 



196 FACE TO FACE 

instrument, just so is inspiration able to express 
through that instrument. 

INGERSOLL: "Science is too slow for the 
Christians; they want creeds.' ' 

LOTUS : We have had science ever since the 
world began, and yet you say science claims all 
things move in harmony. The law of truth is 
the law of love; both are symbols of the science 
of evolution. Without love and truth, there 
would be no law, for these two embody the har- 
mony that governs nature; without these, we 
would be going AGAINST the laws of natural 
efficiency. 

HENCE A CREED WAS BORN 

Down on an old farm in South Carolina an 
old darkey was taking his noontime rest under 
the shade of an old apple tree. He was drifting 
near the spirit as he sat thinking of his work, 
and how little he could accomplish in it. He 
was somewhat rebellious when he would think of 
his age. An old owl near by cried: 

"Wo-hoo! Wo-hoo!" 

"You-all don't need to hoot at ol' Tom, 
Lord, at all. Tom don't know what he ought to 
do." 

Again came the "Wo-hoo!" 

Old Tom sprang to his feet more nimbly than 
he had done for years. Holding his head up he 
said : 

"Lord, I cain't see YOU, but I heahs you-all. 
If you will jes' tell ol' Tom what to do, and 
not ' Wo-hoo,' I'll be much 'bleeged." 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 197 

The tree was the resting place of Tom's mas- 
ter as well. Taking advantage of the oppor- 
tunity, knowing old Tom was far too near sighted 
to see him reclining in the tree, the master 
changed his voice and said: 

"Tom, if you wouldn't forget to remember that 
it isn't always HOW MUCH we do for the Mas- 
ter, but HOW WELL we do it that counts, you 
would last longer and do better work." 

"Thank you, Lord, thank you! I dun' know 
you-all was tellin' me the truf. Dat am so; but 
Lod, will you do me a favah?" 

"What is it, Tom?" came from the tree. 

"I dun forgot to give Mastah Miss Julia's 
letter and I hid it up yonda in the tree, and 
Lord, will you please give it to Mastah. I dun 
forgot to give it for two months — I's sca-ed to 
give it." 

"All right, Tom, I will see that he gets it." 

Bowing and scraping, Tom thanked the Lord, 
when an excited voice again came from the tree : 

"Tom, you old fool, go and get your Master's 
grip packed. He is going to Virginia to see Miss 
Julia. Move lively — move lively!" 

Tom looked up astonished, muttering as he 
went along: 

"The Lord am SUEE in a hurry— Yes, Lord, 
I'll move on, I'll move on." 

He did move on all the rest of his days. His 
work improved, and his temper, too. One day 
Master looked at Tom with a twinkle in his eye. 

' ' Tom, you have improved so much, I am going 



198 FACE TO FACE 

to let you be Master of Ceremonies at the 
wedding. ' ' 

Tom threw back his shoulders : 

"You-all didn't know the Lord do get in a 
hurry sometimes, does you? And when He do 
they's jes' one thing foh Tom to do, and that am 
go on about his Fathah's business; but Mastah, 
did the Lord gib you anything?' ' 

"Sure, Tom, He gave me Miss Julia." 

"But, Mastah, I know He dun gib you Miss 
Julia but — but — didn't He gib you- all sometin' 
else?" 

"I see, Tom, what you mean," taking a much 
torn and weather-beaten note from his pocket. 
"Yes, Tom, He gave me this, in a very strange 
manner. But, Tom, you are trying the Lord. 
Where is your faith?" 

Tom was almost scared white. He fell on his 
knees imploring God to forgive him. 

"All right, Tom," said his Master, "I know 
God will forgive you this time. But remember 
after this, when you have any secrets with the 
Lord, just trust Him to keep them." Hence — a 
creed was born. 

We sometimes find what we are seeking lin 
strange places. Like master, we will take advan- 
tage of the opportunity, and perch the infidel on 
his own dry limb. 

INGERSOLL : "I challenge the world to show 
that Thomas Payne wrote a line or a word in 
favor of tyranny or immorality; one line against 
justice, charity and liberty; one line against the 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 199 

interest of mankind ; and yet he has been pursued 
as though he had been a fiend in Hell. ' ' 

LOTUS: A partial truth is no truth at all. 
You cannot be charitable, you cannot work for 
the good of humanity, without the power of love. 
To accept love is to accept the SUBSTANCE of 
love, which is God. Payne was not condemned 
as a fiend; his works were the works of the half- 
loaf; we turn the reflection the other way, that 
the whole loaf may be visible to mankind. Works 
AGAINST the SUBSTANCE OF GOOD are 
UNEEAL, and UNNATURAL, hence WORTH- 
LESS. 

Thoughts, words and expressions are electrical 
in their effect. When sent with force THROUGH 
EXPRESSIVE PRINCIPLES they penetrate 
substance, compelling response. The nature of 
the response depends largely upon the AMOUNT 
of force sent from the positive, as well as the 
negative condition of the recipient to enact, 
absorb, and attract the electrical force from the 
positive; whether the negative be substance con- 
taining life, or simply substance containing the 
requirements NECESSARY TO ENACT the 
positive, or be affected by the positive. This 
would answer Ingersoll: "Is it scientific to 
imagine that a thrust of a spear through the 
body of a woman ever stayed a plague V 9 

"The body is as grass; the soul, as the flower 
of grass/ ' says the Bible. In the days of which 
Ingersoll speaks, the sacrifice of the body was 
thought little of when a great principle was at 
stake to the saving of many. One body was often 






200 FACE TO FACE 

used to save or serve thousands. It IS today in 
thousands of ways. Kesults from INACTIVE 
suggestions are not as SURE, nor RESULTS as 
QUICK, as when EXPRESSION is used with 
SUGGESTION. A weak suggestive power is 
not sent with sufficient FORCE to CREATE and 
ENACT AT the same time. 

While thoughts are things, harmful, ugly, or 
whether they are beautiful, they are not as 
GREAT as when sent with the ELECTRICAL 
FORCE OF THE POSITIVE ENLIVENING 
AND ENACTING the suggestion in PURE 
CONSCIENCE. 

The ether is filled with things created from 
weakened will. We want GREAT THINGS, 
beautiful things, in the ether around us, not 
creeping things. 

God is our supply here, there, and He produces 
through NATURAL CHANNELS, not UN- 
NATURAL THEORIES. The word of God is 
SURE, QUICK and POWERFUL. 

It is not impossible that plague was stopped 
through the SACRIFICING POWER OF GIV- 
ING, that OTHERS might LIVE. If you have 
had many prayers answered you will KNOW 
this to be true. The word of God is in it, the 
ethereal carries it onward; in the ethereal are 
medicinal qualities, therapeutic in nature. In 
woman is life, by taking life from the body, the 
spirit ascends to perform its mission in the king- 
dom of spirit — heaven, wherein is found the 
SUBSTANCE OF ALL. 

Heaven receives, God perceives. 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 201 

God taketh away and returneth to us OUR 
OWN in the FULLNESS OF PERFECTION. 

INGERSOLL: "Is it scientific to say a river 
cut itself in two, and allowed the lower end to 
run off?" 

LOTUS : As water is super-vacile and super- 
lative, it could not only be possible but probable. 

INGERSOLL: "Is it scientific to assert that 
seven priests blew seven ram's horns loud enough 
to blow down the walls of a city?" 

LOTUS: We are forbidden by law to drive 
faster than a walk across bridges. To do other- 
wise might cause a peculiar vibration that would 
bring the bridges down, so scientists say. The 
blowing of the seven, or one, ram's horn could — 
if the vibrations were rightly directed — cause 
responding chaotic results. The law governing 
vibrations and their terrific force, is too lengthy 
to go into at this time. However, vibrations 
have been known to trouble mountains. 

Let us take into consideration another law 
that was brought into play in the above state- 
ment; that is, that SEVEN is the gift of the 
spirit. The gift in this case was twofold, 
TWICE POWERFUL. It was then, I should 
say, DIVINE VIBRATIONS. The priests were 
the mediums of the Divine vibrating forces or 
POWER. The gift of the spirit is the POWER 
of the spirit. It is then not only scientific to 
assert the ACTIVE principles and POSSIBILI- 
TIES OF VIBRATION, but it also asserts the 
DIVINE, the WORKING POWER OF SPIRIT. 



202 FACE TO FACE 

INGERSOLL: "Is it scientifically probable 
that an angel of the Lord devoured unleavened 
cakes with fire that came out of the end of a 
stick, as he sat under the oak tree? That God 
made known His will by letting the dew fall on 
wool without wetting the ground around it? Or 
that the angels of God appeared to Manoah in 
the absence of her husband, and the angels after- 
wards went up in a flame of fire, and as a result 
of that visit a child was born whose strength was 
in his hair?" 

LOTUS: Spiritual light, or fire, is FILLED 
with potent POWER to HEAL or QUICKEN, 
and ENLIVEN the intelligences within the cells 
of the body, causing a wholesome, healthy 
growth; spirit penetrating SUBSTANCE. "GOD 
IS A SPIRIT.' ' Neither is it strange that Ma- 
noah was visited by angels in the ABSENCE of 
her husband. It will probably seem strange to 
many who do not fully understand that SPIRIT 
reaches mortal more powerful when no conflict- 
ing force is around to detract. This is the 
beauty of SILENCE again demonstrated; when 
spirit meets spirit, completing a magnetic force 
around us. "GOD IS A SPIRIT." Spirit heals 
those who are open to the influx of spiritual 
truths. Again, the true VALUE of prayer is 
demonstrated also. 

It is a well known fact that there is power in 
the hair, too well known to carry into detail. 
All things are possible with God. 

Dew so directed, proclaims the working power 
of Spirit. Fire, or spirit light, in this case, may 



THE DEEP STILL WATERS 203 

have been a reflected spiritual power or presence. 
Spirit also imbibes. 

INGERSOLL: "Is it unscientific to deny 
that water gushed from the hollow of a dry 
bone?" 

LOTUS : A fount shall spring in the desert of 
a turbulent soul. Spiritual waters shall flow 
from the gold mines of understanding. 

In insipid terms Ingersoll demands to know 
whether a dry bone can contain water for an in- 
definite period. God's, eternal power springs up 
in unexpected places; it abideth e'en UNTO 
THE END. His compelling power can create, 
withhold and uphold. 

Through the power of spirit water could flow 
through or from a dry bone as well as through 
the little spring in yonder field. But, you say, 
the spring is a part of nature; it is a play 
through nature. So is Spirit a part of nature; 
it IS nature; and its play goes beyond nature, 
for it CREATES. 

And thus we answer one of Ingersoll's most 
POSITIVE DEMANDS— " show us something 
beyond nature that CONTROLS nature, and we 
will believe." And we have shown you some- 
thing beyond nature that controls nature. The 
power of the spirit is great; CREATIVE prin- 
ciples enfold CONTROLLING principles. 
' ' God is a spirit. ' ' 
I do believe, I NOW believe — " 



CHAPTEE IV 
HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 

EBENEZER UNIC GRAY. 

Keep your rhythm and your laughter, happy little song, 
It will grow greater, grander, as you move along. 

Little children will caress you, older hearts will 

bless you. 
LOVE will make the song ring true. 

The sun looked down in ruddy splendor on Ebenezer 

Unic Gray, 
As he fed old Sol his fodder and his hay. 

Maw, she hollered out the winder, "Paw, you're nigh 

on eighty-three, 
Too old to be a laughin', makin' fun o' me." 

"I were jest a thinkin', Mandie; ain't too old to 

think, be I?" 
Maw she begun to snivel, then to cry. 

That tickled Paw, and he said: "Maw, your nose is 

gittin' red." 
Not carin' how old Sol was being overfed. 

Maw looked up indignant like, "That's jest the way 

with men, 
They never see the stitches in the mend. ' ' 

"Well," sez Paw. "We kin be happy though our hair 

is gray, 
It's only a part of nature, anyway." 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 205 

"Nope," sez Maw, lt 'taint nuther; it's the song the 

God in heaven made, 
The rythra and the poetry that crowns old age." 

Old Sol et up his fodder and then laid down and died, 
Paw sat up in wonder, Maw — she cried. 

Paw winked at me, "That's jest the way with critters, 

that it be, 
Always, always, always a gittin' the best o' me." 

Two withered hands clung tighter, as when in youth 

they bade 
The sun to shine less bright, lest it fade. 

Two old hearts grown fonder, as their hair turned 

thin and gray, 
As the snows of winter precede the spring alway. 

It's the rhythm and the poetry, the happy little song, 
That makes love grow greater as we move along. 

It is the little jokes and teasings, the little hopes and 

smiles. 
That make the way so easy over the weary miles. 

It's the sunshine and the shadows, the heartaches and 

the joys, 
That makes us love each other, like when we were boys. 

INGERSOLL: "Happiness; what is it? 
Where does it come from?" 

LOTUS: True happiness is merging one's 
time, heart and mind in some occupation worth 
while. It is forgetting self in one sense, and 
replenishing self in another sense. He who longs 
for happiness seldom finds it in material things 



206 FACE TO FACE 

only; it must be met by spirit, enacted in truth. 
No one is ever quite as happy in this world as 
when he is honestly in love with his IDEAL, 
whatever that may be; when he is DEVELOP- 
ING that ideal he is unconsciously developing 
HIMSELF. To perfect anything brings poise, 
peace and power to the one who has perfected. 
There is no evidence in the world that will, that 
can, prove a sinful person perfectly happy. True 
religion is happiness; it is RIGHT DOING, 
RIGHT THINKING. Truth MUST PREVAIL 
before happiness CAN; mankind must put 
FORTH SOME EFFORT would he live in truth. 
Anything worth as much to man as truth, is 
worth NO END OF EFFORT. 

ANCIENT HAPPINESS is the REAL happi- 
ness. In ancient times interest was not lost in 
happiness as soon as it was obtained. Man in 
the present day and age will not embrace happi- 
ness as a PERMANENT FACTOR when he 
finds it, but casts aside the LITTLE HAPPY 
MOMENTS to seek MORE happiness (as he 
thinks) in some greater way. This is none 
other than denying nature, for nature IS 
happiness; and, it is lasting. It does not mean 
corruption or casting aside the elements that 
make possible growth, but LIFE in PURE CON- 
SCIENCE, accepting NATURALLY the proper- 
ties that strengthen in greater growth. Where 
PURE CONSCIENCE abideth and striveth not 
THERE is a wee bit of heaven in EXALTED 
HAPPINESS; and, it BEGINS here. When we 
refuse the LITTLE happinesses, we refuse all. 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 207 

Happiness is a NATURAL GROWTH, not a 
spasmodic whim. It COMES naturally and it 
stays naturally, when it is accepted as it is, 
NATURALLY. 

Happiness is a redeeming force, when it is 
sanctified through APPRECIATION of its 
LESSER qualities, as well as its GREATER 
POSSIBILITIES. 

Happiness, like the vibrations of flowers, fills 
our souls with a greater sense of beauty ; a great 
DESIRE to be like unto them. There are certain 
vibrations that come from flowers, which reach 
our senses, our hearts, our souls. Like some 
Divine essence of angel breath, the fragrance 
reaches us, penetrating matter with its DIVINE 
FORCE, leaving in its wake a healing life-giving 
property we call beautiful. It is MORE than 
that, however, it is PURIFYING. Anything that 
can reach the senses through its beauty and 
fragrance purifies and quickens something with- 
in our being that awakens, not alone NEW ideals, 
but reaches the realms of heaven, where our 
loved ones dwelleth. It is then we KNOW there 
is no death; it is then we KNOW God answers 
prayer. 

It is the Divine within these that brings us, 
if only for a moment, into that at-one-ness, the 
attuning of which "continues in our next" as it 
were, the next, bringing still greater at-one-ness, 
and on, until the attuning of the celestial in man, 
is completed with the Divine purity and holiness 
of sanctification. 



208 FACE TO FACE 

We are not sufficiently satisfied when we secure 
flowers to place in some niche in our home; we 
are not wholly contented when we buy them for 
some artistic purpose. Why? Because we 
KNOW within our souls that these were meant 
for a GREATER PURPOSE than these. Do 
not misunderstand me. I do not mean they 
SHOULD NOT be used for such expressions of 
art, etc.; they should, but we want to reach to- 
wards the SOURCE of these, and then declare 
HIS POWER IN THEM. 

IS it not BLESSED to know the working of 
things in our behalf? Is it not GLORIOUS to 
feel the vibrations that spring from such a 
SOURCE? God made the Lily immortal; we 
have placed it upon the altar of worship; and 
yet, have we felt sufficiently within our being, 
the Divine gift of splendor, grandeur, that com- 
pels the manifestations of truth around those 
who gather them, presenting them to some 
supreme force through which they hope to 
GAIN FAVOR? IS it because we seek favors 
that we give Lilies? Or, is it because we love 
Him and them, for what they ARE to us and 
to mankind? 

Oh, beloved, know the pure purpose by which 
they were placed in thy path. Love them, sing 
to them; they will understand, and grow, 
as nothing has ever grown in the HEART OF 
YOU! Caress them, knowing they have their 
ethereal correspondent, where they are made 
still more pure to meet the spirit of those whom 
we feel we cannot give up. 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 209 

And, let me whisper softly, dear, you do not 
HAVE to give them up; they are talking to 
you through the lilies of the field, the woods, 
the streams, the trees, the wild roses by the road- 
side, the brambles near the fence. The meadows 
vibrate with their love and tender watchfulness; 
the streams flow more clear, the ripple sings 
the song of nature's dreams; the lilies enshroud 
you in perfume that lingers, like the gauze of 
dreams, wherein we sense only the pure, the 
beautiful, the sweet assurance that God is in it. 

"But we are too busy, we cannot go to the 
meadows for these things, my dear," said a 
friend. 

The greatest trip I have ever taken, the 
happiest moments I have ever spent, were taken 
in spirit in nature's dreams. It is inspiring; it 
is health-giving. It is good to go in reality, but 
if circumstances prevent, then seek the spirit of 
truth, and wander to the wayside inn; have a 
cozy little lunch in some shady place where the 
honeysuckle vines are beckoning to you their 
appreciation, from the ethereal realms of flowers. 
It is refreshing, it is healing, it is enlightening; 
it develops greater possibilities, and therein lies 
the opportunity to build, so you CAN go to the 
little Inn of your dreams. Once again is demon- 
strated the fact that all things are FIRST 
etherealized and then materialized; even dreams 
come true in the realms of the real when we 
imbibe the beautiful. It is a happiness that is 
not held from ANY LIVING CREATURE, 
MAN or BEAST. It is the SPIRIT OF TRUTH, 



210 FACE TO FACE 

THE DIVINE, working in and through our 
affairs. When we pause to realize that these 
ethereal beauties never leave us, no matter what 
our environment, we stagger with the intoxica- 
tion of pure JOY. To reach them, is to LIVE 
WITH THEM; this is ascending to the heights, 
where the power of the spoken word made the 
world and all therein. 

Again we find in this simple little truth another 
theme or ideal; that is, the power to ATTRACT 
and HOLD the REDEEMING FORCES in 
nature and APPLY them to our use. And this, 
my friend, is none other than seeking the king- 
dom first. These vibrations are coming your 
way in profusion ; gather them while you may. 

Even an animal dreams; it will sniff the air 
and then wander away to seek that it has 
dreamed of. My fluffy little white dog when told 
to stay home and watch the house, looks about 
insinuatingly at windows and doors, licks his 
chops, and sits down without a word, to dream of 
possible burglars and our return. He loves the 
car, loves to ride, but not a whimper when I 
take his head in my hands, look in his eyes, and 
tell him to WATCH for MY SAKE. It would 
seem to those who know him that he thought it 
a great privilege so to do. 

He, too, has his dreams. He will wander away 
at times, only to return with a burr in his foot; 
holding it up, knowing well it would be taken 
out the moment he returned home. He has had 
his dream — of home and kindness. This is none 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 211 

other than intelligence, an intelligence that caD 
not only reason, but dream. 

"I am no dreamer,' ' says someone; "it would 
be impossible for practical me." These practical 
ones are found wanting in the great plan of 
life; fact is, that dreams are soul growth when 
properly directed. We should have dream schools, 
where we would be taught to seek the beautiful 
in thought, hence dreams. 

I might add that true happiness comes from 
dreams more often than from any other source, 
because these dream thoughts are, or have, 
inspired some thought that compels happiness. 
In fact, thought rightly directed, is not only pure 
undefined religion, but it is a great part of prac- 
ticability. It is practical to THINK in right 
channels; it is PRACTICAL to fathom the 
depths of beauty that is PLACED around us for 
the PURPOSE" OF CREATING dreams. It is 
happiness ascending upon the heads of all alike 
without respect of persons. 

Little children love flowers; they understand 
the purity of them; it is nature meeting nature 
in the pure presence of the Divine. 

The old love flowers; they bring reminiscences 
that carry back through the vale of youth with 
its splendor, its giving and taking. It takes them 
back to the days of LITTLE happinesses; the 
days of LITTLE SORROWS, and great sorrows. 

Would we be without these refining sorrows? 
NAY, not for worlds; for in it is the sweet 
thought, the sweet realization, that it has all 
been a part of the attuning. 



212 FACE TO FACE 

The violin would not send forth as sweet a 
sound were it not first tuned. A string may 
break that a better one may take its place. This 
is the law of nature, the law of natural efficiency, 
the law of reason and common sense. So if we 
sometimes are compelled to make changes that 
we fear will not terminate in happiness, we CAN 
seek the LAW OF EFFICIENCY by going in 
the SILENCE with God and telling HIM, and 
then TRUSTING Him to bring before us the 
LIGHT that will burn brighter for the change, 
and through which we are enabled to see the 
wisdom of change and the opportunities that 
these changes bring. If a tree loses a leaf, it is 
but to grow another, fresher, more beautiful, 
than the old. If a bird loses its feathers, it is 
only to replace them by new, more beautiful ones, 
more SUITABLE ones ; the season that has com- 
pelled the moulting also gives NEW vigor as 
well as beauty. 

The old we love; we have become used to it; 
it is a very part of our being; and yet, there 
are times when even that which we have had 
always with us, must give way, that some other 
expression may take place. 

We oft-times wonder why such things must be, 
and then in later years the understanding comes. 
It is not always for OUR OWN good that we 
are placed in an environment, but for the good 
of ONE or MANY. We are just one grain of 
sand running through God's hour glass. He 
places us where the tide will run freely, when we 
lend ourselves to it in NATURAL SIMPLICITY. 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 213 

That is the secret of dreaming, of happiness that 
is TEUE happiness — lending ourselves naturally 
to the inflow of DIVINE INTELLIGENCE that 
has made dreams possible, and the REAL a 
permanent factor. Dreams are but the echo, the 
whisper, of His presence. 

Like a thunder clap on a still hot day, comes 
the realization that we have been SELFISH with 
these beautiful vibrations, asking favors, pray- 
ing for MORE, when ALL WAS GIVEN. Think 
of it, ALL is within the reach of man will he 
but open the door to the Divine inflow, the 
Divine vibrations, that throb beneath his feet, 
that hum in the air, that brush the hem of his 
garment, crying all the while, "Oh, look at me, 
love me and see what I WILL DO FOR THEE." 

It may seem that electricity and happiness are 
two distinct and separate forces. This is a 
false conception. Electricity is directly connected 
with Divinity, hence these vibrations are electri- 
cal in their effect; thus the VALUE of flower 
vibrations IS INTENSIFIED, and this com- 
pletes the requisites to happiness. Happiness 
is reaping the beautiful, the pure, the love that 
comes through the healing forces of the Divine; 
in it is no death at all, but resurrection, LIFE, 
hence happiness. 

The pure motives of Christ were like the vibra- 
tions of flowers. He ate with thieves, He fed 
them with the vibrations of pure spirit, and they 
knew it not. Later they crucified Him and 
STILL He feeds those following in their wake 
through LITTLE things, great things; things 



214 FACE TO FACE 

they love, and things they do not love at all. All 
these hold something for us; think of it, dear 
one, for US. The rose trembles with the ecstasy 
of His love; the petals fall npon my head and 
there make a comfy bed, in which to nestle the 
thoughts I write to you; and will you, when I 
am dead, caress them? for I love to give to 
YOU thoughts that have been bred by angel 
breath amid the petals in my hair. It may amend 
for something I have left undone, and so — wound- 
ed one who died for me. 

And then rejoice, shed not a tear; these 
thoughts were but your own, my dear, sent 
heavenward, and returned again that we might 
learn to care for THINGS that do not SEEM 
so fair. But God is in them, dear, everywhere, 
waiting for a chance to breathe upon these petals 
and their leaves, LIFE, LOVE AND TRUTH; 
happiness in your soul, forsooth — a fragrant 
path you will tread when these have come and 
fled, to other lives to make them great, and His 
story to relate. So cherish them while you may, 
it is the God in them alway. 

POSSESSION OF GOOD 

INGERSOLL: "He who thinks good thoughts 
is a laborer, one of the greatest. The man who 
invented the reaper will be harvesting for thou- 
sands of years. If labor is lowered in this 
country, all that the laborers will have within 
their power is to defend themselves. My sym- 
pathy is with the man who has nothing to sell 
but his strength." 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 215 

LOTUS: This is a noble sentiment of Inger- 
soll, one grand enough to rest upon the pulpit 
he has persecuted. However, the laborer has 
not entirely the POWEE to defend himself. 
He has to maintain a certain amount of caution 
as to his movements; a radical move would 
impoverish. The great uplift of the working 
man does NOT come to him in BOUNDS, but by 
a SYSTEM OF TECHNICS that will enable 
him to better his condition without open rebel- 
lion. A rebellious spirit is BLIND TO TRUTH ; 
an ANTAGONISTIC TEMPERAMENT only 
wears out its OWN VITALITY. Man belongs 
to the plane where he is NOW until he outgrows 
it. Labor is the HOME OF HAPPINESS, when 
rightly applied. 

"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, 
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a 
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of 
the fullness of Christ. That we henceforth be no 
more children, tossed to and fro, and carried 
about by every kind of doctrine, by the sleight 
of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie 
in wait to deceive.' ' 

Progression can only walk in the paths of 
restriction, a forward step meets thorns. If 
there is no conquest over man, there is none over 
matter, and the greatest science is a failure. 
THOUGHT is the GENERATING FORCE that 
CONTROLS DESTINY. Foolishness has little 
place in a cultivated mind spiritually whole, for 
nothing is foolishness unto him; everything has 
a cause, that the man duly enlightened can 



216 FACE TO FACE 

penetrate. Every problem on earth has some 
hidden good. It is on the HEIGHTS that the 
TRUE MEANING of EXISTING THINGS is 
found; the CAUSE is exemplified in reason. 
There is no one crime committed npon this plane 
of life that has not a CAUSE behind it. The 
cause may have existed GENERATIONS AGO, 
or it may be JUST GENERATING; but it 
is there. On the HEIGHTS there are no 
PHANTOMS, but the REAL. It is becoming in 
TUNE WITH THE REAL that enables us to see 
things as they ARE, not as they seem to be. This 
is the highest attainment man can reach in 
righteous judgment, and it is TRUE HAPPI- 
NESS, not only for himself, but ALL mankind; 
for OTHERS SEE and OTHERS ENACT. Sin 
is LESS HARD TO OVERCOME when the 
CAUSE of sin is clearly defined and judged in 
PURE CONSCIENCE. 

Happiness comes from the well-springs within 
the soul of man, attuned to the spirit of 
HARMONY, RIGHTEOUSNESS and FAITH. 
HAPPINESS is attunement to honest purpose 
and demonstrated fact. Happiness drops from 
heaven, as the rain descending within the reach 
of man. How much man gathers unto himself 
depends upon how quickly he perceives God in it. 

UNSTUDIED GRACE 

INGERSOLL: "Little is told of the child- 
hood or youth of Christ/ ' 

LOTUS: The youth and childhood of Christ 
is being told today, every day, in one of the 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 217 

EXPRESSIONS THAT GOES TO MAKE 
HAPPINESS, and that is ART. The great 
Masters hold the Christ child before us. Art has 
been purified, exalted by it. Jesus has stamped 
His likeness upon our temples. The words of 
our best poets show a DISTINCT CHRISTIAN 
COLORING. Our immortal songs, somewhere 
within their depths breathe the Christ; from 
birth to the cross — yea, and beyond the cross 
to the Resurrection time — wherein we are made 
perfect. 

The youth of Christ is EVERYWHERE. If 
man is spiritual enough to catch the vibration, 
he will find it in the budding leaves, the flowers, 
the morning hours, the twilight; in all things 
pure, fresh and beautiful. He will feel, too, the 
POWER OF YOUTH, and the POWER OF 
LOVE, in the HIGHEST SENSE OF 
EXPRESSION and DIVINE PASSION. When 
we arouse a slumbering soul that has REFUSED 
to see the light of His countenance, then are 
WE EXPRESSING THE YOUTH OF CHRIST, 
not only within the awakened soul, but within 
our own soul ; for in it is budding conscience that 
will eventually ripen into golden gain. 

Spring vibrates with the youth of Christ, with 
the resurrection of Christ, with the love of 
Christ. The youth of Christ — is the spring time 
of understanding, painting pictures that can never 
be effaced. 

We have many men also who have painted in 
glowing colors PICTURES on the walls of our 
hearts, GREAT DEEDS, GREAT ACHIEVE- 



218 FACE TO FACE 

MENTS, GREAT VICTORIES, such pictures as 
would proclaim the setting of the stars in heaven. 
"For each star differeth in its glory.' ' James 
Whitcomb Riley painted pen pictures; Long- 
fellow painted pen pictures; Francis Parkman 
painted pen pictures ; THE BIBLE PAINTED 
pen pictures, the like of which man CAN NEVER 
IMITATE. Lincoln painted pictures on the 
walls of the log cabin, and in the hearts of the 
blacks. Theodore Roosevelt painted pictures on 
the pages of history and in the hearts of men. 
I would picture Roosevelt as a tiger mothering 
a lamb, for as such his GREAT nature appealed 
to me. 

P. T. Barnum painted pictures that took one 
hundred railroad cars to transport. In 1879 he 
said that 90,000,000 people had come to see those 
pictures. General Tom Thumb and Jenny Lind 
were a part of the beginning of Barnum's world 
pictures. James M. Barrie, Scotch novelist, 
painted vividly upon memory's walls; and so 
might we go on all day telling of those who have 
painted pictures on the walls of memory that 
have never known brush or pallet, but have 
commingled ART, HAPPINESS, and NATURE 
until the grandeur of its Infinite purpose illumined 
the sky, and another star was set in the heavens 
to light the way, making an ever present picture 
by which to dream, love, caress, ennoble and save. 

And yet, we are to be grateful for another 
expression of art. Sir Henry Irving, Franz 
Liszt, Du Maurier, have found their way into 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 219 

our own laughing galleries, where dreary hours 
have been made glad with PUNCH. 

It has often been asserted that an author can- 
not be a successful Evangelist, and vice versa. 
This was proven an error when Henry Drummond 
in the "DESCENT OF MAN" made a picture 
never to be forgotten. 

OL'AH'S beautiful version of these inspira- 
tions — whether they be pen, brush or life 
pictures — is this: "A spider's thread becomes 
firm upon coming in contact with ether; so the 
slender thread of inspiration weaves itself into 
the thought, heart, soul and mind of man; per- 
chance to be torn down by some rough ungainly 
hand, never to be replaced; or perchance 
redeemed by some gentle hand, that will carry 
it happily to some great temple to forever bless 
mankind. ' ' 

There are many expressions in the character 
of pictures: Some that would be out of place in 
the LIVING EOOM, find a place in the picture 
galleries, because of the INTENSE EMOTION 
pictured there; but people do not want to live 
with them. They want to be happy, and they 
want the art that will make them happy, or add 
to happiness, for man himself is a part of 
DIVINE ART, the soul of love, the soul of 
harmony. Man is NOT expressing his Divine 
RIGHT when he REFUSES these. 

There is no death, my friend; there can be no 
death, for every truth, science, and Divine 
expression, proclaim LIFE, everlasting life! 
And this is HAPPINESS IN COOPERATION 



220 FACE TO FACE 

with art, for it is the NATURAL EXPRESSION 
of both; the ART, the GRANDEUR of GOD'S 
ATTUNED PURPOSE. 

INGERSOLL: "Some may ask, are you try- 
ing to take our religion away? I answer, super- 
stition is not religion. Belief without evidence 
is not religion. 

"To love justice and right, to love mercy, 
to pity the suffering, to assist the weak, to forget 
the wrongs and remember benefits, to love truth, 
to be sincere, to love liberty, to wage war 
against slavery in all forms, to love wife 
and child and friend, to make happy homes, to 
love the beautiful in art, in nature, to cultivate 
the mind, to be familiar with mighty thoughts 
that genius has expressed, their noble deeds, 
to cultivate courage and cheerfulness, to cultivate 
hope, to see calm beyond the storm, the day 
beyond the night, to do the best that can be done ; 
that is the religion of reason, the creed of 
science; that satisfies the brain and heart. 

"But says the prejudiced priest, malicious 
minister, 'You take away the future life. ' I am 
not trying to destroy another world, but I am 
endeavoring to prevent the theologians from 
destroying this." 

LOTUS : First of all, you are not consistent. 
Consistency is order; order is the first law of 
nature; without nature, there is nothing; we 
have lost the chord of Infinite At-one-ness. When 
we go against nature, we no longer revolve 
with the universe, we break the natural course 
of the Divine within; hence, we are no longer 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 221 

boundless, but soundless, so to speak. The 
Divine cannot play upon a stringless instrument ; 
therefore, it is necessary to attune oneself to 
nature and the laws governing nature, to reflect 
nature from within or without. You say, Inger- 
soll, "How malicious is mercy, how revengeful 
is boundless love"; and yet, in the above account 
you say: "To love mercy, to pity the suffering, 
to love justice and right, to love truth, etc., is 
the true religion. ' ' One moment, please. Are not 
mercy, love and truth the QUALITIES of 
PUKE CONSCIENCE? Are not mercy and truth 
the ATTRIBUTES of BOUNDLESS LOVE! 
Are not ALL of these virtues you have set down 
the SUBSTANCE of the Godhead, exalted 
happiness ? 

Again in a previous chapter, Ingersoll says: 
"Give to me the storm and tempest of thought 
rather than the dead calm of ignorance and 
faith." In the above statement he says: "LOOK 
BEYOND the storm and tempest of TODAY." 
What is that but faith? What IS LOOKING 
BEYOND the trials and storms of today, but 
FAITH IN THE TOMORROW? What is that 
but holding harmony in pure conscience? And 
what is pure conscience but RELIGIOUS 
consciousness ? 

To exercise love, truth, mercy, justice; to seek 
the beautiful, man must first liberate his own 
intelligence in pure conscience, that he may recog- 
nize these attributes as a part of his natural self, 
the Divine within. To liberate intelligence 
is to seek the kingdom FIRST. 



222 FACE TO FACE 

To wage war against slavery, error of what- 
ever nature, man must first know the truth 
WITHIN; then will he be ENABLED to work 
in the WITHOUT. Divine mind is pure 
conscience, but it must be also liberated from 
carnal mind before it CAN express itself in pure 
conscience, or command obedience to the LAW 
OF FEEEDOM in a material sense. 

To make a happy home is the harmony of 
thought motives — the law of nature. To love 
the beautiful is to admit inspiration. To love 
nature is to love God. Divine light, truth, does 
away with midnight thoughts. There are no 
blinds down in pure conscience. To cultivate 
cheerfulness is to give FREEDOM to the soul. 
To make OTHEES HAPPY requires a lot of 
sacrifice, a wee bit of wisdom, and a mighty 
determination to forget self. 

To fill life with the splendor of genius is to 
call forth the FOECES OF INTELLIGENCE 
INTO ACTIVE PEINCIPLES. To discard 
error is to ACCEPT THE TEUTH, the Divine 
principle that embodies spirit. To cultivate hope 
is to throw out the life line between spirit and 
mortal. 

"Hark ye, man cannot push the sun from the 
heavens, neither can he pull the moon from its 
socket; the stars look down in scorn on him who 
sayeth there is no God, there is no life beyond 
the grave." 

INGEESOLL: "People know now that the 
love of a saint has no greater value than the love 
of an animal.' ' 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 223 

LOTUS : The finer the instrument the sweeter 
the music. The more exalted man becomes, the 
more spiritual, the better is he enabled to 
BESTOW LOVE in pure conscience. The love 
of an animal is faithful; the love of the pure in 
heart is not ONLY FAITHFUL, but FULL OF 
UNDERSTANDING. Like attracts like ; if you 
are susceptible to the vibrations of love, given in 
pure conscience, you will receive abundantly. 

INGERSOLL: "People know now that a rag 
from a wandering beggar is just as good as one 
from a saint, and that hair from a horse will 
cure disease just as quickly and surely as the 
hair of a mitre. We know that all these relics 
are religious rubbish, that those who use them 
are, for the most part, idiots. 

"Our ancestors did not regard these relics as 
medicine having curative power; but the idea 
was that evil spirits stood in dread of holy 
things, that they fled ; and when Holy Water was 
sprinkled on man, they immediately left the 
premises. So these devils dreaded and hated 
the sound of holy bells, the light of sacred 
tapers, and above all, the ever blessed cross. 
In those days the priests were fishers for money ; 
they used these relics as bait." 

LOTUS : Sacred relics suggest to mind the 
POWER of things holy. "As ye think, so shall 
it be." 

We call the grave of mother sacred. It is a 
relic, an object of reverence; we know full well 
it is NOT MOTHER that is THERE, but it is 
the body of what WAS, the body of one we loved 



224 FACE TO FACE 

above all else in this world. We kneel there and 
say our prayers; we feel comforted, healed; 
why? Because that SPOT is held sacred to the 
memory of one who DID heal through LOVE, 
the most wonderful love man has ever known. 
We would punish any one to the full extent of 
the law who would dare defile that sacred relic. 
What then, are we less than these? 

In Chicago there is a little church, a modest 
little church in structure. Inside, the walls are 
covered with crutches of those who have gone 
forth HEALED, needing them no more. A great 
HEALING FORCE is felt the moment one 
enters here; the atmosphere is permeated with 
it; this holy shrine has brought thousands relief; 
it is impossible to kneel there and not feel the 
POWEE OF SPIRIT. It is not a trick of the 
imagination to those who enter there seeking the 
gift of the spirit. The POWER OF SPIRIT is 
brought vividly before the thinking one, and 
faith is perfected. 

Is this, then, not like unto the supreme faith 
of a little child? 

"Except ye become as little children, ye cannot 
enter the kingdom of Heaven." AH, those who 
entered there and were healed HAD the faith of 
a little child. Life, happiness, TRUTH, THE 
SUPREME, is found only in the secret of His 
presence. I cry with the healed : HOLY, HOLY, 
HOLY, Blessed God Almighty! Ah, it is but 
the echo of HEAVEN'S ARTILLERY. 

FAITH lights the taper of Divine love within 
these soul-sick maimed bodies. Oh, blessed 






HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 225 

RUBBISH HEAP; blessed, THRICE blessed, 
is he who is privileged to kneel before it. 

FOREVER RING, ye sacred bells; 
Ring on FOREVER and for aye. 
We hold no fear for future year, 
The while your chimes are tolled. 

And there are other relics that bring with 
them the BIRTH OF THINGS MADE HOLY 
by the WORD OF GOD AND PRAISE. Our 
rubbish heaps are FILLED with mother's 
prayers, father's hopes, with childhood croons, 
wedding bells, and perchance the wreath that's 
laid away; we cannot touch it, nay, not today; 
it is Spring, and we want to be glad; but to- 
morrow, when sorrow knocks, we hold it lovingly 
in our arms; it trembles with the power of 
spirit; we cry aloud: "OH, MOTHER, FATHER, 
DO YOU NOT KNOW?" We rest our head 
among the faded flowers, tears bedew them; 
we feel at peace; the healing power of spirit 
passeth by — we have held in our arms our relic, 
in which is spirit breath. 

"Great is the mystery of Godliness manifest 
in the flesh, justified in spirit, seen of angels, 
preached unto the gentiles, believed on in the 
world, received up into glory." 

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, 
but of power, of love, and of sound mind." 

"Again I say unto you, oh ye of LITTLE 
faith, man hath an earthly body and a spiritual 
body." 



226 FACE TO FACE 

Why should we marvel at the change called 
death? Is it any more wonderful than birth? 
The body is the substance of things earthly; the 
SPIEIT RISES ABOVE DECAY. If the north 
wind blows now, must we forget the Spring? 
If the tree has lost its leaves, must we forget 
the fruit it gave to us before it went into 
the Silence for a season? All nature blends 
with the harmony of silence; all nature retires 
into the silence in due season, gathering NEW 
FORCE, NEW POWER, to produce the unfold- 
ment of spring, the emblem of happiness, life 
and love, yea my friend, we may meet again in 
the unfolding of spring, somewhere, some day. 
When man loses the way of smiling, empty and 
drear are the rooms of the heart. When the 
tapers of love burn low, it is as the darkness of 
night; it is then the soul sleepeth — forgetting. 

AWAKE! Heaven's Artillery is sounding. 
AWAKE ! Ah, there is the sentinel at the door 
watching; to sleep on duty is death; "Behold! 
Who goeth in before?" Man, it is thy brother. 

INGERSOLL: "The meanest thing charged 
against the devil is that he led the children of 
men into temptation, and yet in the Lord's 
Prayer Grod is insultingly asked not to invite 
the king of fiends — lead us not into temptation." 

LOTUS: "This particular phrase in the 
Lord's Prayer," says 01 'ah, "comes from a 
wrong interpretation. It should read 'LEAD 
US OUT OF TEMPTATION' in place of 
'INTO TEMPTATION.' If the world is not 
satisfied upon this point let it investigate. It is 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 227 

well worth the time and trouble, expense too, for 
that matter.' ' 

I am at sea as to 01 'all's version; but it 
could be possible, you know. However, were it 
correct to the letter, I see no cause for 
comment, for has not God said : ' ' The weak must 
suffer to be made strong"? 

A mother teaches her child through the 
power of demonstration to resist temptation and 
desire. The child's attention is called to things 
detrimental to character and bodily comfort; the 
mother forbidding the child to touch the fire, let 
us say, telling him what the CONSEQUENCES 
will be if he disobeys. She lets the child alone, 
watching, waiting, to see whether he will obey 
her — or desire. The child succumbs to desire; 
the mother grieves, but comforts the child 
saying: "WHY DID YOU NOT OBEY 
MOTHEE, SHE KNOWS BEST?" The child 
has been taught the evil of coveting things 
detrimental, and it has been taught the comfort 
that parental love brings when things go wrong. 
It is to me a beautiful and NATURAL phase of 
our Heavenly Father's guidance. 

Had man no temptations to overcome, he 
would be a confirmed weakling, with no strength 
of character or determination, a fearful object of 
dependent charity. There would be no spirit of 
valor in the world, no inventive spirit to continu- 
ally surprise and make our progress upon this 
plane more comfortable, more pleasurable ; we 
would, in fact, be little less than creeping things. 



228 FACE TO FACE 

There would be no pulsating world events to 
COMPEL the cooling drink at the fount of 
reason. 

The echo of Heaven's Artillery will yet 
QUICKEN THE TRUTH WITHIN THE SOUL 
OF MAN, and he will RISE from the grave of 
ignorance. 

INGERSOLL: "How can we lessen crime? 
In spite of all that has been said and done for 
the reformation of the world; in spite of all the 
forces of nature that are not the tireless slaves 
of men; in spite of all improvements in agricul- 
ture and mechanics; in every department of 
human labor, the world is still cursed with 
poverty and with crime. For many thousands of 
years man has endeavored to reform his fellow 
man by imprisonment, torture, mutilation and 
death, and yet the history of the world shows 
that there has been, and is, no reforming power 
in punishment. It is impossible to make the 
punishment great enough to lessen the crime. 

"The question is, whether reformation is 
possible; whether a change can be produced in 
the person by producing a change in conditions? 
The criminal is dangerous, and society has a 
right to protect itself. 

"The penitentiary should be a school; the con- 
victs should be educated ; the best men should have 
charge of the prisons; they should be philan- 
thropists and philosophers; they should know 
something of human nature. The prisoner having 
been taught — we will say five years — the under- 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 229 

lying principles of conduct, naturalness, har- 
mony, virtue, the discord of crime, and having 
been convinced that society has no hatred, that 
nobody wishes to punish, to degrade or rob him ; 
and being paid a reasonable price for his labor; 
being allowed by law to change his name, that 
his identity will not be preserved; he would go 
out of the prison a friend of the government and 
would have the feeling that he has been made 
a better man." 

MATERIAL POWER 

LOTUS: Handing a check of deceit with the 
pay roll would be a discredit to the man, a 
disloyal act towards the government and society. 
No man is a friend of the government who wears 
a false face to the judgment seat. Deception is 
not a stimulant to character building. All the 
teaching that could be drilled into a man of that 
caliber would lose its effect by permitting him 
to LIVE A LIE. One deceit breeds another. It 
would not be long until the man had a multitude 
of errors added to his crime. 

TRUTH is the substance of happiness. Why 
send the man forth in UNTRUTH, thus shutting 
the door to a better future? If he CAN forget, 
let him; he has paid the price. Why send him 
groping through the dark dungeon of deception? 
"lam the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE." 
"LOVE THY ENEMIES." "Bless them that 
curse and despitefully use you." This is not 
written in the book of deception. 



230 FACE TO FACE 

When we love, we protect; when we loyally 
defend, it is through truth, not error. A crown 
will topple and fall from a head that shakes 
from confusion. Show not "one of these" 
diversity of ways, lest it crumble the little 
happiness that MIGHT be the SALVATION OF 
SOULS. If we are numbered among the influ- 
ential, let us use that influence to scatter the 
truth broadcast, until fields of great delight 
spring up before us, showing faces alight with 
His likeness and image. 

Wavering truth must be replaced by a solid 
foundation, or our castles will topple and fall. 
Otherwise we hinder great forces in a cloud of 
mistrust and doubt, for who believeth a cheerful 
liar? His jocular hilarity brings confusion, and 
our purpose is incomplete. 

SINCEEITY is the key that unlocks the door 
that truth may enter; and keeps it unlocked. 
When truth, expressed in pure conscience, is the 
universal harmony of the world, prison doors 
will hang unlocked, cells will moulder in decay. 

Hath not God told us this and more, hundreds 
of years ago? Man, why sleepest thou in the 
ignorance of thy will? The story of one official 
greatly appealed to me. He said : 

"The day I was elected is one never-to-be-for- 
gotten by me. I was riding along in my carriage, 
tipping my hat to my fellow townsmen, when I 
spied in the crowd a white faced man who, when 
we were boys together, I had licked. He looked 
up in my face, and between set teeth hissed, 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 231 

'My turn will come some day.' This man had 
proven himself a failure. He had done nothing 
worth while for himself and everything against 
himself; yet, I could have put my arms around 
his neck (as I had done after I licked him) and 
said, 'I didn't want to hurt you, but you made 
me so dum mad, I just had to, Buzzard.' 

"Later I was favored by helping Buzzard out 
of a very awkward situation. One evening, some 
time later, I was making a speech. I paused to 
take a drink of water; as I did so, I spied 
Buzzard in a box with several others whom I 
recognized as boys of my school days. I could 
not repress a smile that may have had a twinge 
of sarcasm; I could not help having a little 
repugnant feeling toward the fellow who had 
had every advantage and taken none. From his 
childhood days up Buzzard had been surrounded 
by plenty — luxury, I might say — and the tender 
love of a wonderful mother. A quiet unassuming 
father had stood with tears in his eyes watching 
his make-shift son do nothing. And yet Buzzard 
brought to my mind some of the happiest days 
of my life — my school days. 

"I turned to face my audience with all the 
fire of youth surging in my veins. The audience 
rose to its feet; it shouted, it cheered, waved 
hats; but above it all the voice of Buzzard — 'I 
GOT YEB.' Later, when the fight was over and I 
was safely installed for another term, I said 
I GOT YEB ! I shook the hand of Buzzard with 
a grasp that no man ever mistakes. Buzzard 



232 FACE TO FACE 

had worked hard in my behalf; some of the fire 
of youth that I had felt seemed to spring into 
his veins and make a MAN OF HIM. 

"My second term was one of still greater 
responsibility. I GOT YEE was my watchword, 
my stimulant; it thrilled me; it was my inspira- 
tion. I longed to go back to the football games 
and kick Buzzard's shins, I grew so elated over 
I GOT YEE. I spent many sleepless nights 
during my second term, but I would always cry 
out with the dawn, I GOT YER! 

"A friend returned to us through the valley 
of hate is worth a multitude of THREE 
CHEERS FOR KELLY! WE do not know how 
many powers there be in the wake of our influ- 
ence, but I would rather have one friend returned 
with I GOT YER! than to have thousands won 
by THREE CHEERS FOR KELLY.' ' 

INGERSOLL: "By the homestead laws a 
home of a certain value (to a certain extent) is 
exempt from forced levy of sale, and these have 
done great good; undoubtedly they have trebled 
the homes of the nation. I wish to go a step 
further: I want, if possible, to get the people 
out of the tenements; out of the gutters of 
degradation to homes where there can be privacy 
and where these people can feel that they are in 
partnership with nature; that they have an 
interest in good government. 

"Nothing is more important to America than 
that the babies of America should be born around 
the fireside of homes. I wish that this state- 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 233 

ment would take root and grow, turning some of 
the hundreds of acres of uncultivated land into 
thrifty homes, whose tenants are men, women 
and children. " 

LOTUS: No one who has not stepped from 
the door of a prairie home into the wonderful 
moonlight can fathom the depths of being at 
HOME WITH NATURE. 

Go through fields of grain by foot and FEEL 
THE THRILL IT BRINGS. Go through the 
fields at sunset, BRING THE COWS HOME, 
see what a pulsating feeling of Joy comes home 
with you, just happy to be alive to the respond- 
ing chords of nature. Turn as you go and look 
towards the city where people pay from twenty- 
five to one hundred for one, two, or three little 
holes in the wall, where impatient feet resound 
overhead, where the clash of discord comes from 
all quarters in street and building. Compare 
this with a home in the country or suburbs 
where nature sings from morn till night, where 
fragrant blossoms nod you welcome, where the 
scent of fresh cut grass lulls you to slumber. 
Listen to the locusts, the bees; how CLOSE TO 
GOD WE COME WHEN WE ARE OUT IN 
THE GREAT OPEN. 

We burrow a little apartment, and then the 
LACK of life itself until we learn to APPRE- 
CIATE the little things we bring into these 
little apartments; something from NATURE, 
something from the GARDEN OP GOD. When 
we DO learn the value of these and place them 



234 FACE TO FACE 

within these little rooms, in peace and quietude 
of soul harmony, and DREAM ourselves in 
the open, we are better enabled to reap the good 
in life. 

We have to have these little holes in the wall 
to accommodate those who toil and labor, and 
those who do not. Every one of his kind must 
have shelter in a place where he can live, or 
exist, as the case may be. BUT, it is a lack of 
knowledge of the things in the Garden of God 
that makes these people exist only. Were they 
to elevate their mind to the heights wherein is 
found the REAL, they would not exist only, and 
there would not be so many sweltering in the 
tidal waves of material indifference to the 
LAWS of God and Nature. These would seek 
homes in nature, no longer finding happiness in 
the humidity of sin and indifference. Some 
homes hold the thrill of nature in their very 
beams; and some never know aught but the 
discord of ugliness within and without. 

Homes are made by women, sought by men, 
appreciated by children. Woman, thou hast a 
NOBLE calling; let the following be in pure 
conscience. 

Children should be reared in an atmosphere of 
flower vibrations flowing through the soul of 
those who surround and care for them. The 
exquisite refinement of harmonious love will 
enliven and quicken a natural growth in children 
that will be as an outlet for latent talents that 
might otherwise lie dormant and useless. 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 235 

I want to add here a little story of a cabin 
home among the colored race, which beckoned 
harmony in all things until it became a 
HAPPY REALITY. A theme of material 
power. A home, though humble, in which those 
of greater wealth might have found a bit of 
truth over which to rejoice. We find our 
examples in the little golf holes, where men have 
enjoyed or been disappointed in the game of life. 

Tom was a prosperous colored fellow, in his 
humble way. I could but wonder why he was 
always smiling, always singing. I remarked 
this to a friend. "Oh," she said, "it is the 
nature of all darkies, they just don't seem to 
care." I told her that I did not think so in 
Tom's case; there must be some logic somewhere. 
I strolled over to the neat little home; the yard 
was bright with flowers; the house shone white 
and clean. The happy wife asked me if I would 
come in and have a cool drink of milk. I thanked 
her and asked to see Tom. 

"Yas-em, Missy, anything wrong?" 

"No, and yes. I am all wrong inside, Mandy; 
I want to see Tom." 

Mandy, spick and span in her starched blue 
print, rushed out to Tom, who was busy with his 
chickens. 

"Tom, oh, Tom, Missy Julia don come to see 
you all, and she am wrong inside. Heah me, 
Tom; you come on now!" 

Tom came in, panting from his run: "Missy 
Julia, Missy Julia, what am de mattah?" 



236 FACE TO FACE 

"Tom, I want you to tell me how you became 
such a prosperous business man." 

Tom sat down in a near-by chair, wiping the 
perspiration from his face, looking quite dis- 
gusted. 

"Now, Missy Julia, I done to't youse all sick. 
Howevah : ef you all had a dollah and a dime 
and de Lo'd don come along and say, 'Tom, you 
gib me dat dollah, I needs it for de poah, you all 
keep de dime.' " 

"Yes, Tom, go on." 

"You all s'posin' I'se gwine keep dat dime 
hangin' round till I done gits ti'ed lookin' at it? 
NO, SAH, I AIN'T. I'se gwine to buy eggs an' 
set ma ol' hen, an' profit, I is." 

"But, Tom, you can't buy but two eggs for a 
dime these days." 

"I done know dat, but one of 'em is gwine 
hatch, and dat chicken gwine bring a dollah an' 
seventy-five cents, ain't it! I done got my sta't 
dat way, Missy Julia. An' when de Lo'd comes 
back, I'll gib Him TWO and have JES' SO 
MUCH CREDIT IN HEBEN— AN' JES' SO 
MUCH IN MA BACK YA'D: SO I'SE SAVED 
BOTH WAYS." 

There was nothing wrong inside when I left 
Tom, even though he did forget to mention that 
he did hauling for a living. It was not the 
hauling that paid for his little home and lot, and 
the little garden plot on the side that Mandy 
worked out her blue prints and starching in; 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 237 

nor was it the hauling that put over seven hun- 
dred chickens in his back yard. 

Let us walk home through the meadow and 
think WHAT IT WAS, while Tom's father, the 
faithful old Tom, and his Massah, await us for 
tea. Old Tom had not taught Tom, Jr., to be a 
slacker in the Garden of God, even if he did not 
fully trust the Lord to keep his secrets. 

INGERSOLL : "Let every human being, within 
the limits of the possible, be self-supporting; 
let everyone take intelligent thought for the 
morrow; and if a human being support himself 
and has a surplus, let him use a part of the 
surplus for the unfortunate; and let each one, 
to the extent of his ability, help his fellow man. 
Let him do what he can in the circle of his own 
acquaintances to rescue the fallen, to help those 
who are trying to help themselves, to give work 
to the idle. 

"Let him distribute his words of wisdom, of 
cheerfulness and hope. In other words, let every 
human being do all the good he can, and let him 
bind up the wounds of his creatures; and at the 
same time put forth every effort to hasten the 
coming of a better day. This, in my judgment, 
is real religion. To do all the good we can, is to 
be a saint in the highest and noblest sense. This 
is to be really and truly practical. To relieve 
suffering; to put the star of hope in the midst 
of despair; this is true holiness; this is the 
religion of sense. The old creeds are too 
narrow, they are not for the world in which we 



238 FACE TO FACE 

live. The old dogmas lack breadth; they are too 
cruel, too merciless, too savage. We are growing 
grander, nobler. 

' ' The firmament inlaid with suns is the dome of 
the real cathedral; the interpreters of nature 
are the trees and holy priests. In the creeds are 
all the truths that have been uttered, and the 
real litany will be found in the ecstasies and 
aspirations of the soul; all dreams of joy, all 
hope of a nobler and fuller life. The real church, 
the real edifice, is adorned and glorified by what 
art has done. The real choir is all the thrilling 
music of the world, and the star-lit isles have 
been, and are, the grandest of every land and 
clime. ' ' 

LOTUS: There can be no stronger advocate 
of nature's thrills, no one who more 
THOEOUGHLY enjoys the HIGHEST AND 
BEST IN NATUEE, than myself; and yet, it 
is soundless to those who omit the substance of 
God in it. It is the Divine that makes all the 
music. 

Light the seven lamps. Ingersoll says so much 
that is beautiful, it is almost a shame to wipe it 
off the slate, nevertheless, we must see beneath 
the varnish. All of the virtues that have been 
pictured are but the reflection of the ten com- 
mandments. Why varnish them? Thou wouldst 
have us enter a cathedral of the world, and not 
the TEUE CATHEDEAL that EMBEACES 
BOTH NATUEE and God? 

Eeligion is not built, it is inspired. The hand 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 239 

that plays upon the harp of inspiration is spirit. 
We sometimes become imbued with exaltation 
when man has accomplished some great feat, and 
then relax into a stupor of wonderment. We 
need not wonder when God is in it; it is His 
power making itself manifest in His likeness 
and image. It is this that places man on the 
great plane of progression, enabling him TO DO 
unto others as he would be done by. Ecstasy of 
soul is the understone of spirit. 

Happiness, my friend, comes from a Divine 
source; it is the essence of His presence express- 
ing in things that go to make the world. It is the 
sublime knot that tethers the runaway conscience 
to the spirit of truth. It is found more often 
through some achievement that has required a 
greater amount of struggle and sacrifice than we 
THOUGHT we could have borne. The realiza- 
tion that God places not one burden upon man's 
back that he is not able to carry GIVES JOY; 
the fact that we have, of OURSELVES, learned 
to overcome is bliss. The realization that when 
we DO BELIEVE opens the way sometimes 
before the request has left the lips that uttered 
it, brings UNTOLD HAPPINESS, for in it is 
the quiet but potent power that sent vibrating 
through the world the mightiness of His will. 

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try 
the spirits whether they are of God, because 
many false prophets are gone out into the world. 
Hereby know ye the spirit of God. Every spirit 
that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the 



240 FACE TO FACE 

flesh is of God; and every spirit that confesseth 
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not 
of God; and this is the spirit of anti-Christ 
whereof ye have heard that it should come, and 
EVEN NOW ALEEADY IS IN THE WOELD. 

"Ye are of God, little children, and have over- 
come them; because greater is He that is in you 
than he that is in the world. They are of the 
world, therefore speak they of the world, and 
the world heareth them. 

"We are of God; he that knoweth God heareth 
us ; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby 
know ye the spirit of truth and the spirit of 
error. 

"Beloved, let us love one another; for love is 
of God, and every one that loveth is born of 
God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, 
knoweth not God, for GOD IS LOVE. 

"In this was manifested the love of God towards 
us, because God sent His only begotten Son 
into the world that we might live through Him. 

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that 
HE LOVED US, and sent HIS SON to be the 
propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so 
loved us, we ought also to love one another. 

"No man hath seen God at any time. If we 
love one another God dwelleth in us, and His 
love is perfected in us. Hereby know ye that 
we dwell in Him, and He in us; because He hath 
given us of His spirit. And we have seen and 
do testifv that the Father sent the Son TO BE 
SAVIOUE of the world. 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 241 

' 'Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son 
of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God. 
And we have known and believed the love that 
God hath for us. God is love, and he that 
dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in 
him. 

1 l Herein is our love made perfect, that we may 
have boldness in the day of judgment, because 
as He is, so are we. 

"There is NO FEAK IN LOVE, but perfect 
love CASTETH OUT FEAE, because fear hath 
torment; HE THAT FEAEETH IS NOT MADE 
PEEFECT IN LOVE. 

"We love Him because He FIEST loved us. 
If a man say, 'I love God' and hateth his brother, 
he is a liar, for he that loveth not his brother 
whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom 
he hath not seen? 

"And this commandment have we from Him; 
That he who loveth God, loveth his brother also. ' ' 

INGEESOLL: "Under the Mosaic dispen- 
sation there was no remission for sin except 
through the shedding of blood. The greater the 
sin the greater the sacrifice. Every priest 
became a butcher, every synagogue a slaughter 
house.' ' 

LOTUS: The greater the crime, the more 
ASSUEEDLY do we have to work to redeem 
ourselves, and others; not only that we may 
receive the crown, but in respect before the 
world. Sin demands blood; it is the law of cause 
and effect. LOVE demands sacrifice; it absorbs 



242 FACE TO FACE 

the ego of self-conscience, regret and fear, leav- 
ing the limitless power in which and by which 
we may work out the salvation of those for 
whom we are sacrificing, bringing them into 
their OWN; bringing OUBSELVES into greater 
power, greater understanding, through the 
DEMONSTRATION OF TBUTH. 

When man ceases to LIVE FOR THE 
LITTLE SELF, he is demonstrating the power 
of spirit; the Divine within. TRUTH demands 
more TRUTH in return; hence the LIMITLESS 
POWER of sacrifice is demonstrated. The 
LITTLE self slays the lives, hopes and 
ambitions of others ; it is a deplorable power that 
EXTINGUISHES THE LIGHT OF SOUL. 

Jesus came to redeem us from the LITTLE 
self. He gave His life that He might, through 
the power of spirit, make easy the way for His 
loved ones. 

Blood is the POWER of BIRTH, the POWER 
OF LIFE, the GATES AJAR, the MATERIAL- 
IZED EXPRESSION OF THE SPOKEN 
WORD. "If ye WILL receive, ye MAY receive.' ' 
He who never sacrificed has never loved. 

There is a beautiful memory that clings to 
the most of us; that is, the tender loving care 
and protection that was given us by father and 
mother in our GROWING DAYS. The fortitude 
with which they braved the storms of MATE- 
RIAL things was, at that time, but natural to us. 
Somehow we KNEW that they would tide us 
over. We had such FAITH in their ability TO 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 243 

DO that we LOOKED for the overcoming; we, 
like old Tom, "just naturally KNEW they could 
do it." But when these same trials come to us in 
more mature years, we WONDEEED at their 
fortitude, their strength ; their faith in God ; their 
faith in us; and their FAITH in themselves. 
And we loved them then, more than ever, because 
of the great understanding that had come to us 
in the years that we too trod over the thorns of 
material things. Why then strange that our 
Heavenly Father should weep for what He had 
HOPED we would be? "Jesus wept." 

"And this is love, that ye walk after the 
commandments. This is the commandment: 
That as ye have heard from the beginning, ye 
should walk in it." 

We have drifted far down the road in the ways 
of man; we see before us, behind us, and ahead 
of us, tenfold sacrifices ; one of the ten is sitting 
under yonder tree. His eyes wander question- 
less over every passer by; the world calls him 
a TEAMP. Let us go back to the year 1896, 
August 5th. He and his wife sat grieving; their 
only son had killed his boyhood chum; the sen- 
tence had been Life Imprisonment; the mother 
wept. Jack had been the life of the home; ever 
willing to lend a helping hand, he was sadly 
missed. With love in his heart, the father had 
offered to serve in his son's stead, by death or 
penitude, but they told him — No, the son must 
serve time for his own sin. 



244 FACE TO FACE 

That night the son began his journey to the 
state penitentiary. Part of the journey had to 
be made from this small town by shay. A figure 
moved in and out of the trees near the jail where 
Jack had been confined; two eager eyes never 
wavered from the door with its gruesome bars. 
Presently the sheriff and Jack passed through. 
The click of the lock told the tale of sorrow. 

Jack was not handcuffed, as was the usual 
custom. The sheriff had said jovially: "He is 
such a slip of a boy; if he is bad, I will lay him 
across my knee/' The town folk laughed; but 
deep within the sheriff's heart was a grief, kin 
to that of the father; he regretted deeply that 
he was the instrument to take this boy to a home 
of living death. 

Jack was a favorite among the young people 
of the town; it was hard for them to believe him 
guilty; the sheriff's daughter had her wedding 
gown finished, the day was set; it was hard, far 
harder than the sheriff cared to admit, even to 
himself. 

As the shay rumbled along to the little depot 
a form crept close, running in the shadows of 
the big poplars along the road. A tiny stone 
found its way to the horses' thighs, they started 
to run. 

"WHOA, WHOA, THEEE BESS, WHAT 
YOU TRYIN' TO DO? TOM, YOU STOP THAT 
PRANCIN'; be you losin' your mind?" 

The sheriff, taken, off guard, bent his efforts 
trying to stop the horses; he did not see a hand 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 245 

laid quickly on the form of Jack, hurling him to 
the side of the road in the shadows; nor did he 
see another form quickly take his place. 

1 l Are you all right, Jack ? ' ' 

"Yes, sir," came the answer. 

"Wonder what made 'em do that; see any- 
thing, Jack?" 

"Yep, saw a shadder, sir, while back." 

"That's it, then, GET EP, BESS, GET 
ALONG LIVELY, TOM, TRAIN'S COMIN'!" 

A sprightly form stepped upon the platform 
by the side of the sheriff, the east-bound steamed 
away; a face youthful in its happiness beamed 
in that of the sheriff; a shaggy head of black 
hair fell over the forehead in youthful fashion. 
The sheriff was puzzled, but he laid the look 
of happiness at the door of RIGHTEOUS 
penance, and promptly forgot it. The work had 
been good; the wig man and the barber had 
played their part well; Jack was safe. 

Years rolled by, a Trusty stood at the prison 
gate watching as the prisoners filed by one by 
one; a face caught his eye and held it in amaze, 
it was Jack! 

What was he doing here? A father's heart 
sank within him, a son's beat wild; a loving 
glance passed between them; that was all. 

A hand lay gently on Trusty's shoulder. 
"That was your son, Trusty; he has come to pay 
the price that you may not suffer the penalty 
allotted to those who deceive the law — imperson- 



246 FACE TO FACE 

ating another. ' ' A shot and then another, startled 
the birds in flocks, who were anticipating crumbs 
from Trusty's generous hand. 

"WHAT WAS THAT, SIR!" 

"That— Trusty, my man, was the PRICE; 
your SON HAS PAID THE DEBT. Go, Trusty, 
be free in a world you have not known for many 
years; the Warden will give you your clothing. " 

Half crazed with grief, Trusty wended his 
way to the old home, from which he had been 
an exile so long. AN EXCITED KNOCK 
returned only the echoing hollowness of what 
might have been. WHERE WERE THEY, 
HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTERS? A great sob 
arose in his soul— WHERE WERE THEY—! 

Seeing through the growing twilight and blind- 
ing tears someone working near the fence of 
what had been his own treasured garden, he 
called: "STRANGER, DO YOU KNOW WHAT 
HAS BECOME OF THE FAMILY THAT 
LIVED HERE?" 

"That house is empty," came like the bursting 
asunder of countless years. 

"Be they gone?" 

"Yes, stranger. The old lady died two months 
ago, the daughters have married and gone to 
another city to live; the son is in prison for 
life; the old man disappeared when the son was 
sentenced; nobody KNOWS WHAT BECAME 
OF HIM. I have in my possession a letter and 
a box that was entrusted to me by a young man. 
I was to give it to the man whom he described 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 247 

to me; as you answer that description, I will 
give them to you. Wait, I will go and get them." 

Returning from the house, he handed them to 
Trusty. "I don't know who you are, stranger, 
but here is the box and the letter, and these 
were my instructions." 

Taking the box and letter with trembling 
hands, Trusty cunningly ignored the query as 
to his identity, and left with "MUCH BLEGED, 
STRANGER." 

He was tired, it was growing late; he drew 
from his pocket the change the warden had given 
him when he left the prison. Looking about he 
saw a familiar word — TAVERN — he would go 
there and rest until he could think what to do. 
Tears would come, and the world — did not under- 
stand. 

Paying his two-bits, he followed the man to 
the little room under the eaves. He could smell 
the honeysuckle; it brought vividly before him 
his Ruth; for it was here, in this little tavern, 
they had spent their honeymoon. A wistful 
smile playeoT about the features of Trusty as 
he bade the clerk good night. 

Trusty forgot he had had no dinner; he lay 
down on the clean white bed; the honeysuckle 
would surely lull him to sleep ; but sleep and its 
blessings refused. He sat up, leaning on one 
elbow, and lit the candle by the little bed, draw- 
ing the box and letter from under the pillow. 
It was burning his very soul; he could resist it 
no longer, though he dreaded to open it, fearing 



248 FACE TO FACE 

its contents. His eyes fell upon the familiar 
handwriting of Jack. "He always conld write 
good and plain," he murmured, and then: 

Hollow Wood, May 18. 

"DEAR DAD: 

The last letter I shall ever write from our old 
Hollow Wood home; but mother no longer needs 
me; you deserve freedom in your old days; and 
I am going TO PAY THE PRICE. 

I sold the house and lot and made a good 
bargain; you can live in comfort on the proceeds 
the rest of your life. I knew you would not care 
to live there now, and I also knew that they 
wanted to buy it. Times have changed. The 
sdrls have gone East. They married well, and 
are ashamed of us, Dad. They do not want us 
ever to come around them. It can't be helped; 
we will just have to let them go. Don't grieve 
for me. I am GLAD that I CAN make you happy 
and comfortable in your old days. 

It may be some comfort to you to know that 
I killed Ted in self-defense. We were good pals, 
but Ted had a temper, as you know, and it hurt 
him to be called a Redhead. I was wrong in 
teasing him. Out of just that ONE thoughtless 
little remark we have all had to suffer; death, 
penitude and disgrace! Strange, isn't it, Dad, 
that out of such LITTLE things such horrors 
sometimes grow? 

After you threw me out of the sheriff's shay 
I went to Thornton, Ted's brother, and con- 
fessed all. He said: * Never mind, Jack; live 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 249 

here with us; I'll get you a job.' But I told him 
there was mother. He said : ' Yes, I know. Make 
up old, Jack, like her brother or something, and 
I'll get you the job anyway.' 

He did, in the mill, and one day I got a 
chance to pay him back; he got caught in the 
belt; but I was quick and caught him before it 
turned him in; and he was mighty good to 
mother and me after that. So it's all right. I 
made a good bargain on the place. 

SO LONG, DAD." 

A great sob filled the little room. Someone 
knocked on the door. "Are you sick, Sir?" 

Trusty snuffed the candle and snored loud and 
long. It seemed like years as he sat there in 
the moonlight looking out beyond the honey- 
suckle vine to the great BEYOND where his 
loved ones dwelt; and then: "OH, I CANNOT 
STAY HEEE! I WANT NO BED; I WANT 
NO TAVERN; I want God's great NATURE. 
I want the BIRDS, the TREES, the STARS, the 
BEASTS, who love without questioning WHAT 
YOU ARE, what you've BEEN." 

He turned and again lit the candle, took an 
old handkerchief, tied up the box, threw it over 
his arm and slipped out into the night. Someone 
said as he passed: "An early riser, Pard." 
"Aye, Aye," murmured Trusty, half consciously, 
and disappeared like a dream through the night. 

Yes, Jack had made a good bargain. He would 
not have to beg; a fortune lay snugly tucked 
away in the little box; no one would know. 



250 FACE TO FACE 

As he wandered along he raised his eyes to 
the great heavens above and silently offered a 
prayer that he might DO as his Saviour had done, 
— heal the sick, lead the blind, feed the hungry, 
help those who, like himself, had suffered. 

And thus we found him in various parts of 
the earth, binding the wounds of man and beast, 
fathering the young. The spirit of Christ dwelleth 
in the heart of many a weary traveller the world 
calls a tramp. 

"I am just waiting to be towed along, standing 
on the brink of — Happiness.' ' 

JUST WAITING 

Ah! little bird, I have thee now, 

1 11 hold thee tight, too, I vow, 

No need to flutter, I knowest thou. 

Thy heart beats fast, little bird, 

By crumbs to my window lured. 

Ah, fluttering thing, 'tis I that's power now, 

Dost think it not so safe as yon hay mow ? 

Ah, I open my hand, poor fluttering thing. 

Go to thy nestlings thy crumbs to bring. 

I am no monster, seest thou? 
I would not harm thee, I vow ! 

Go to thy wee ones in their nest, 

Go, while I sit here and rest, 

Go, bird, while I dream on — and on — 

Of days that might have been as thy song. 

Nay, when my loved ones needed care, 

I was held prisoner over there ; 

In the vulture's treacherous claws — 

The unchangeable depths of effect and cause, 

That o'erwhelm man, reason and laws. 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 251 

Little bird, on wings so fleet, 
Would I could thy spirit meet. 

Yea, bird, fly home to thy nest, lest some pest 

Sweep down and destroy thy nest, 

Go, bird, to thy wee ones, and be blessed. 

By the peaceful winds caressed — 

While I with wounded heart laid bare, 

Stand on the brink of the river fair, 

Just waiting — to be towed across, 

That I may find what I have lost. 

Held by His merciful hand 
In that glorious heavenly land. 

Sacrifice slumbers in the GREAT soul. We 
know not in whom it may be slumbering, nor in 
whom the great POWER is WORKING for the 
salvation of ONE OR MANY. Sacrifice does 
not harden the heart, but GLORIFIES love. 
Wherever there is glorified love, there is the 
presence of God ; there is the tenderness of mercy, 
the strength of endurance that is the reflection 
of the Christ life. As earthly blessings are tem- 
poral, what matters it whether the reward be 
now or then? 

So many have said, still say, I had rather 
take my chances here. This is one thing over 
which man has no control. God holds in His 
hand the chance ; there is nothing to fear. * l GOD 
IS LOVE." It shows a good bit of COWARD- 
ICE for man to say I had rather take my 
chances here. A poor soldier, indeed, that stands 
on what he thinks the safe side, taking his 
chances there, while his brothers move on IN 



252 FACE TO FACE 

GREATER FAITH IN HIM WHO WATCHES, 

quickening the power within, taking their 
chances AS MEN. It stands to reason that those 
who say I had rather take my chance here, FEEL 
they have not fulfilled the law. 

The LITTLE self is not a good principle 
through which to work, nor a competent judge of 
good. As it is electro-negative it comes in con- 
tact with the chemical substance of evil, or the 
substance of obsession, evil spirits, devils. To 
become electro-positive — having the properties of 
becoming positive — electrified by contact with 
pure spirit, man is enabled to assist his greater 
nature to develop perfection in truth ; hence good 
and evil, God and devil. 

The scientific truths in the Bible prove again 
and again the fact that electricity is directly con- 
nected with Divinity. It is the REFINEMENT 
with which man MEETS the spirit of purpose in 
the Bible that enables him to PENETRATE the 
truth in the HIGHEST SENSE of HARMONY 
and sweetness that can be FULLY REACHED 
in DIVINE UNDERSTANDING. Thus we 
become attuned, as breeze meeting breeze, as song 
meeting song, as harmony meets harmony, as 
sweetness meets sweetness. We CANNOT obtain 
the whole truth unless we DO refine our senses to 
meet the sublimity that goes beyond material 
sense. 

Spirit and truth embrace ALL, the substance, 
the body and the blood. We have too long sought 
truth without cultivating spirit. Spirit is the 
truth in all things. There is a lot more in the 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 253 

Bible than man has ever gotten out of it as yet. 
The time is coming when the FRUITS of the 
Bible will be harvested; and then, what HAPPY 
HARVESTERS ! How well man will sleep, rest- 
ing from the hot sun of material labor, inhaling 
the fragrance of the bountiful, resting in the 
shadow of His wings. 

The morning dawneth; wait, watch, hope and 
pray. And this is the refinement of soul vibra- 
tions in which worketh the power of the celestial, 
enabling soul in man to feel a like vibration 
springing towards him from the soul of things, in 
which happiness abounds. 

INGERSOLL: "Keep the devil out of 
children. ' ' 

HAPPINESS IN THE HEART OF A CHHiD 

LOTUS: Too much stress cannot be placed 
upon the WAY of truth in teaching children right 
and wrong. If the child has ideals, they are but 
the truth within struggling for expression. Help 
the child to express them; help the child to 
ENNOBLE, EXALT these ideals, refining them 
in PURE conscience. Quiet reserve does not al- 
ways mean refinement; it sometimes covers a 
secret motive, caressing as a cat's paw, as hissing 
as a serpent trapped unawares. TRUE refine- 
ment is that of PURE spirit ; the Divine express- 
ing in man. In the Divine is harmony; when 
harmony is permitted to express itself in the full- 
est sense, there can be no discord in actions or 
in motives, for like an attuned instrument, it 
waits for the hand that sends it into expression. 



254 FACE TO FACE 

The Divine hand is the hand that sends the music 
through the soul of one into another, finding an 
harmonious response in those who are alike at- 
tuned. The Divine expressing in man knows no 
affectedness ; on the contrary, it is NATURAL 
simplicity, NATURAL sweetness. The hand that 
grasps ours with whole-hearted honesty, is the 
hand we may trust. The hand that lies passive 
in our own, is the hand that FEARS THE 
POWER of others. True refinement is WHOLE- 
HEARTED LOYALTY EXPRESSED IN THE 
BEAUTY OP SPIRIT, WHICH IS MUSIC OF 
THE SOUL. 

I am happy when I meet a friend face to face. 
I am happy when, like finest lace, his PURPOSE 
blends with the Divine. I am happy when he 
takes my hand, for in it is a quiet command for 
that that's in mine own. I am happy when I see 
unaffected loyalty. I am happy when I see tender 
grace that breathes of spirit, unaffected royalty. 
I am happy when I see God SHINING 
THROUGH A SOUL unsullied by unreality. 

Ideals are a current of Divine wisdom enlight- 
ening a darkened mind, or a developing mind, 
creating spiritual light. Children are all, or 
nearly all, taught, directly or indirectly, to fear 
the consequences of evil. That is not the point. 
Children should be taught there IS NOTHING 
TO FEAR WHEN GOD IS PRESENT ; and to 
strive in PURE SPIRIT to overcome evil with 
good. A child should never be taught to fear, 
but to hold calm uprightness of heart. There is 



HAPPINESS: WHAT IS IT? 255 

no need to fear when we are living in pure con- 
science. This should be explained to them, exem- 
plified to them, in every way possible. I had 
rather teach a child the beauty of life than to 
fear life. The beauty of life lies in the expres- 
sion of PUEE CONSCIENCE. Fear is a won- 
derfully chaotic power. 

Old Tom says: "You all jes' say de debil am 
in me today, and suah enough de debil am theah : 
but you all say, 'Debil, you all jes' go on behin' 
me,' and he's boun' to 'spect you all fo' knowin' 
he's 'roun' and won't hab nothin' to do wid him. 
He ain't gwine take possession of me; NO SAH! 
He ain't gwine to move in an' tell me to move 
out, NO SAH! Dis habitation am foh God an' 
nobody else!" 

This is the logic of Ole Vir-gin-ie, and it might 
grace a throne. 

In happy hearts there is a continual singing, a 
continual philosophy, defining Happiness. 



CHAPTEE V 

NATUEE AND THE SOUL 

NATUEE in man cries ont for the BEST IN 
MAN ; it invariably sends forth the sweet strains 
that NATUEE HOLDS within its sacred realms. 
In some sweet way it finds its OWN, and express- 
es through the SOUL OF MAN the highest degree 
of supreme excellence IN MAN. 

Error or ignorance may, for a time, close the 
portals to harmony of the soul, the VEEY LIFE 
of supremacy, but it will eventually find expres- 
sion, an outlet through which to work. This in- 
variably comes through the Divine vocation of 
SOUL IN THINGS. There is an ever beckoning 
call from the SOUL OF NATUEE to the soul of 
man. The response comes when man begins to 
long for the BETTEE side of life, the GEEAT 
side, where the supreme spirit dwells ABOVE the 
storms of agitation in serene and tranquil spirit; 
the life that leads through optimism into fields 
of affluence and luxuriance ; the life that does not 
live for SELF ALONE, but for the edifying of 
mankind. 

It is a great part of human nature to long for 
recognition when we accomplish something we 
deem worthy of our BEST efforts. It is only just 
attribute ; and yet, the ATTUNED heart sings on 
if it finds NO response from the world, for it 
KNOWS that in the realms of the EEAL, where 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 257 

angels dwell, it WILL be recognized and valued 
accordingly. This is the expression of legitimate 
nature in man, the KNOWING, the LIVING, as 
the lilies of the field, in natural worthiness, the 
VERY archetype or prototype of DIVINE 
EXAMPLE. 

There is nothing to fear from the world; man 
is bound to glean something from a life so lived, 
whether the world recognizes his efforts or not. 
It is what WE get out of things that counts, what 
we are able to understand and apply to our use, 
and the use of others, spiritually and materially. 
It is indeed more than passingly strange what 
LITTLE THINGS turn the tide in lives, both 
great and small. The silent though potent call of 
the Divine finds response in the heart, soul and 
mind of man when it is enabled to penetrate the 
FEELINGS OF MAN, and this is more often 
found in the little EVERY DAY things that 
appeal to the comfort and welfare of man ; things 
we call necessities, pleasures, and things that 
compel us to ask WHY they must exist. To bring 
forth a query in mind of things we cannot account 
for, is to call attention to God. When man is 
puzzled he invariably asks WHY? This appeal 
turns towards expression, and eventually some 
elevated moral development, which is included in 
self education, in the fullest and noblest sense. 
The heart attuned grasps the PURPOSE, and 
no longer asks WHY, but turns to the great 
PRINCIPLE, LIFE. He walks to a near-by tree, 
mighty in its power of growth; what kind of 
life? He murmurs: AH, IT IS DIVINE LIFE, 



258 FACE TO FACE 

a SUPKEME FORCE, regenerate life. He ex- 
claims in wonderment; this great LIVING 
TRUTH expressing in such natural simplicity 
from the Godhead^ WHY THAT IS DIVINE 
LIFE, and it is PERSONAL because it is sancti- 
fied to ONE PURPOSE. Divine life IS personal, 
because it expresses in each INDIVIDUAL 
THING and PERSON, according to the needs of 
the person or thing. Thus we see Divine power, 
life, is both UNIVERSAL AND PERSONAL, 
because it is the SUBSTANCE OF ALL, IN 
ALL, and because it quickens each individual or 
thing that harmonizes with its CREATIVE, 
CONSTRUCTIVE, QUICKENING POWER. It 
is the SUBSTANCE OF LIFE; it is electro- 
magnetic FORCE that calls forth a responding 
expression in things animate. It is personal, 
it is universal, is Divine, hence it embraces all. l ' I 
in you and you in Me." And thus our purpose 
is sanctified by seeking the SOURCE of the ideal. 
Intent is made more profound by the enlivening, 
quickening power that comes when honest purpose 
is the center of motive. 

I never look within the heart of one of the little 
flower immortelles without harking back to the 
time when in Lourdes there existed a prince who 
sought the counsel of many wise men in the hope 
of finding some method by which he might exalt 
his name. Discouraged with the outcome, lie 
wended his way through the grotto, past the 
shrine of OUR LADY OF LOURDES, to his own 
little garden where he wandered carelessly swing- 
ing his walking stick from side to side, tearing 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 259 

from the mother plants many beautiful blossoms. 
Weary of people and the world at large, he sat 
down upon a bench near which grew a Lotus tree. 
"Ah, tree; they say those who eat of thy fruit 
wander in lands of dreamy forgetfulness." So 
saying, he reached forward to obtain one of the 
fruit that he too might wander in strange 
lands, when he beheld, lying near his feet, a 
little immortelle he had so ruthlessly struck 
from the mother plant, seemingly mocking his 
weakness, so bright, so full of life did it seem 
to be, while other blossoms lay near bruised 
and apparently dying. Time had lost all 
interest for the prince, but the flower — the 
flower had not. Long he sat dreaming, long he 
marveled; as though charmed, he drew it lov- 
ingly to him, and then crossed the path to the 
side of the gardener, who had been working 
near by. 

"Gardener, WHAT IS this flower 1" 

"That," said the gardener, "is the prince of 
flowers. It lives many moons without losing its 
beauty, form or coloring." 

"WHY SO!" cried the astonished prince. 

"That, your Highness, I cannot answer; it 
takes older heads than mine to answer. But 
perhaps the old mother can answer thee." 

The prince followed the gardener to the 
little cottage where he and his old mother had 
lived since he could remember. Seeing the 
approach of the prince, the old dame attempted 
to rise, but the prince gently placed her back 
in her seat. 



260 FACE TO FACE 

"I have come to ask favors, not to seek 
salaams, madame. Pray tell, WHAT IS this 
flower ?" 

"That," said the old dame, "is an immor- 
telle, as golden as your heart's fondest hope." 

"And to think," said the prince, "it cared 
not one whit that I had so ruthlessly abused 
it!" 

"Aye," sighed the old dame, "be seated, and 
I will tell to thee the legend of the immor- 
telles." 

"Thank thee. Long hast thou served me, old 
dame; I knowest well thou wilt not fail me 
now. ' ' 

"Aye, prince; many years ago I trotted thee 
on my knee and told thee stories of yester- 
years. 

"Once upon a time there lived a nobleman who 
came from Ma'metz, was introduced to, and 
fell in love with a beautiful princess. But when 
he sought her hand in wedlock she cried out unto 
him: 'When thou canst fetch me a flower that 
THOU HAST CULTIVATED WITH THINE 
OWN HAND, one that will live for many moons 
after it has been plucked from the mother plant, 
I will give thee my hand in wedlock. ' 

1 1 ' But, ' cried the lover, ' such a plant could not 
be.' 

" 'Thou hast my answer,' cried the princess; 
'GO.' 

"The lover wended his way to the Lodge, 
where he lay down upon the green. 'I will lie 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 261 

here/ cried he, 'and look at the moon, the stars, 
that watch between my love and me.' A fairy 
touched him with her wand: 'What sayest 
thou, wan lover V 'I said the moon, the stars, 
would watch between my love and me,' sighed 
the lover. 'NOT SO,' cried the fairy; 'let Miz- 
pah be thy watchword, thy star by night, thy 
moon, and thou wilt soon find that thou seekest.' 
'Aye,' groaned the lover, 'it does not exist, un- 
less, perchance in some strange land. All, 
little fairy, I will away. Au plaisir de vous 
revoir.' 'N' importe,' sighed the fairy, and 
was lost in the shadows of night. With the 
dawn the lover awoke, placed his pack upon his 
back and journeyed to America. After a year 
he stood at the entrance to MALVERN HILL. 

" 'Halt! Who goes there V 

"Quiveringly the lover told the guard his tale 
of love. 

" 'It must be the immortelle you seek, 
stranger; wait.' Calling a near-by private, he 
ordered him to bring to the now wondering 
lover a sprig of the little immortelles that grew 
near. The private returned, bearing root, 
branch, blossom and all. 'Take it,' cried he, 
'and may the Lord watch between thee and 
me.' 

" 'HALT! Who goes there?' rang in the still- 
ness as though no heart throbs had told tales of 
love. 

" 'Me,' answered the lover, — 'Me.' 

" 'ME — me! Little you know of the ways OF 



262 FACE TO FACE 

OUR GREAT AMERICA. Begone, I say. Me 
—Me, 0, HA HA!' 

"Bewildered, little understanding the duty of 
guards, or the pathos that hides the heart of 
sympathy, the lover again wended his way to 
the sea, where he and the little immortelle 
found passage in the steerage. A few weeiks 
later he knelt at the feet of his love, holding 
before her the little immortelle. 

" 'And didst thou cultivate it?' asked the 
princess. 'Nay, but I sought it in strange 
lands, having to sail home to thee in a steerage, 
so late was I in obtaining passage.' 

" 'Pooh!' cried the princess; 'Look thou here'; 
and she threw wide the gate to her own little 
garden in which grew hundreds of little immor- 
telles. 'Thou didst seek afar for that which my 
own had tended, and lay upon my heart. Thou 
art a fool, man; away, I will have none of 
thee!' 

"The lover drew the saber from his belt and 
thrust it through his heart, crying the while 
'Dieu vous garde.' But the Princess had fled to 
her own little garden, where she died of a broken 
heart. 

"The flower thou holdest, your Highness, is 
the reflection of jealousy. Pardon an old 
woman, prince, but thou art restless. Seek not 
afar off for peace and honor; it lieth here, in 
thy OWN LOURDES." 

In Lourdes there LIVES a prince who works 
out his ideals for the welfare of those who 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 263 

kindle their fires with the fagot of impatience. 
Over the gate of the palace there is engraved : 
"EnDIEU est tout/ ' 

It matters not through what channels 
NATURE beckons to the SOUL of man, it is 
the redeeming factor in which His Likeness and 
Image is magnified. God's ways reach us 
through LITTLE THINGS to configurate 
greater. The child in the crib, noting the up- 
rightness in nature, longs to walk erect also. 
This yearning soon finds expression; the whole 
soul cries out GO AND DO LIKEWISE, and 
behold it is done. 

The sweetest song ever sung is voiced by the 
invisible force IN NATURE. The celestial 
choir sends its sweet strains through the light- 
ning strokes to the little cricket, who carries 
its fiddle on its hind legs, rejoicing when loved, 
playing harder when appreciated. It fiddles 
away, never seeming to grow weary, while in- 
sects dance, and man — entranced by the 
romance — seeks his mate. 

Our lives are much as the waves of the sea. 
Flowing through them is song, beauty, har- 
mony, love and poetry. These come close, lick- 
ing our feet, and retreat again into the night, 
only to return once more with the dawn of each 
new day, in great billows of little opportunities 
that make transactions possible, through which 
man and the world are united in the great bond 
of NATURAL PRODUCTION. When we learn 
to grade the soul in the school of effort, when we 
learn the VALUE of understanding the NA- 



264 FACE TO FACE 

TUBE that harbors the soul, a certain dull grind 
will be obliterated, and the harmony that is the 
keynote in nature will find quick response in 
the lives of men. Then will the world be a 
HOME of culture that will infuse itself in the 
NATURE OF THINGS and enliven them with 
greater power of beauty and worth. 

When true beauty is expressed around us, 
it creates a desire to be like unto it, and thus 
we lessen vibrations that grate and fill the 
soul with contentment and better judgment, 
and INDIVIDUALLY CREATE OR BUILD 
GREATER DESTINIES. 

There never has been enough cooperation 
between instructor and parents in the lives of 
our little ones to BRING ABOUT the GRAND 
RESULTS OF NATURE AND SOUL. We 
begin in the home and end in the home, we 
might say, but there is alwavs the gentle in- 
fusion of OUTSIDE CONDITIONS that take 
GREAT PART in our lives and education, that 
may be made great opportunities, or vice versa. 
If we will but learn to meet the infusion of 
outside influences, and teach our children how 
to meet them, we will greatly lessen the 
DANGERS of influences. The quiet demand 
for right and justice is only nature asserting 
itself in the power of recognition. There is a 
certain light that shineth forth from the soul 
of the spiritual man that DEFIES CHAOTIC 
CONDITIONS. Therein lieth the SUPREME 
FAITH that cannot be mown down by the 
HARDNESS OF THE BUSINESS WORLD. 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 265 

PURE conscience is bound to bring returns 
that are satisfying*. There is little need of 
compulsion when the MOTIVE RINGS TRUE. 

The little dramas that play themselves into 
the affairs and lives of men with such disap- 
pointing and confusing effect, would be 
greatly lessened were man to admit the Divine 
supply of higher vibrations, thus obliterating 
the ' ' stronghold ' ' that things of a chaotic 
nature have. To let the mercy of God demon- 
strate its Divine invisible FORCE OF LOVE 
that holds through ALL, into our affairs and 
being, is to bring into our lives the GREAT- 
EST POWER OF EFFICIENCY. This 
deathless love and Divine power rejuvenates 
the intelligence of man and reinstates the 
spirit with HIGHER forces; opening the door 
to all that is GOOD FOR MAN; thus he opens 
the portals of his heart to the REAL. 

There is limitless power in the real, limit- 
less understanding of the real, which embraces 
nature and the soul. When the real is sought 
in ALL THINGS, there is unbounded joy in 
the realization that it ever has taken the 
greater part in our lives, having actual exist- 
ence in the things nearest to us; the trees, the 
flowers, the birds; in everything, in fact, that 
is in our lives from the beginning unto the 
end. The thing is to FIND it; to appreciate 
it when found, and apply the truth in it to the 
principles by which we live. 

Things animate and inanimate are but the 
substance of the real. Spirit is present in all 



266 FACE TO FACE 

things, visible and invisible. Would we find 
and apply the beauties of life IN life, mankind 
would grow in spiritual triumph. When the 
sensitive side in nature meets the impression- 
able mind of man, there is a quickening, an 
understanding OF nature, and the real in 
nature, in which the notes of soul are sung in 
harmony with the Spirit that moved upon the 
face of the water. 

It is a wee bit of heaven to realize the work- 
ing power of spirit and its potent efficiency TO 
penetrate substance. To adhere strictlv IN 
OBEDIENCE to the CALL of HIGHER 
INTELLIGENCE waylays the dramatic sug- 
gestion of material minds and makes the way 
clear. It is a certainty that when we seek the 
right source (God) we can have no idle dreams, 
but reality — the direct result of nature's 
dreams— "THE IDEAL MADE REAL." Idle 
dreams are blasting in their effect; they throw 
upon the surface things they do not create, and 
obliterate the otherwise perfect dreams, dreams 
that are a well-spring of GOOD RESULTS. We 
ought to be just as careful HOW we dream as we 
are how we live. 

To dream the real is to build ideals; to live 
in spirit, or to hold before us the beautiful, is 
to enliven ideals that finally materialize. We 
must be careful HOW we materialize, and WHAT 
we materialize, or we may be greatly surprised 
at the results. Build not idols and worship them, 
but live in the spirit of truth; BUILD dreams 
and let them come forth to glorify HIS NAME, 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 267 

thy life, and the lives of those who seek wisdom 
at thy hand. "Let the heavens be glad, and let 
the earth rejoice; and let men say among the 
nations, the LORD REIGNETH. Let the SEA 
ROAR, and the fullness thereof; let the 
fields rejoice and all that IS therein. Then 
shall the trees of the wood sing out at the 
presence of the Lord, for He cometh to judge 
the earth. 0, give thanks unto the Lord, for 
He is good; for His mercy ENDURETH for- 
ever. ' ' 

When we gather wheat we fill our bins with 
the substance of life; therein is found the sweet 
spirit of truth. Living in sweet accord with the 
substance of all fills every need. We learn to 
look at shallow things just as we look within 
the depth of the low but clear little brook. Just 
beneath the surface of the shallow waters is 
the working principles of LIFE. We see the 
little tadpole that by and by becomes a frog, 
which we learn to look for and listen to with 
so much pleasure. We cannot see the workings 
of animated existence calling forth the new life, 
or rather new form of expression in life, but 
experience, time, science and observation have 
taught us it IS there, and we are glad. We can- 
not see the germ in the egg, but we know it is 
there, and we look beyond to the little yellow 
chick running about so happily in response to 
the mother hen's cluck, cluck. We look beyond 
THESE and see the wonderful unity of nature 
and soul, see the chemical change called death, 
and we know there is no death, but resurrec- 



268 FACE TO FACE 

tion. NATURE AND SOUL, 0, YOU 
WONDER WORKERS, in which abound the 
substance of the real, the boundless JOY OF 
ATTUNEMENT. 

Think you it strange God said, "GO TO 
THE ANT, THOU SLUGGARD, AND CON- 
SIDER HER WAYS"? Or that He called 
ants LITTLE PEOPLE? These "little 
people" build cities; they take into them the 
necessities nature and habit require. The differ- 
ence in size, coloring and custom is about the 
same as that of the various nationalities of the 
human race. First: we have the little Indian 
ant that lives in the woods, builds its tepee 
among the leaves and bark of old stumps, 
gathering together the dry wild-flowers that 
grow in such profusion among the pine-trees. 
To dream here among these, is to recall the 
REAL — nature and the soul. And these are 
beautiful dreams, in tune with the HARMONY 
OF GOD'S PURPOSE. Not idle dreams, theo- 
retical or imaginary, but the genuine concrete 
dreams in which spirit seeking spirit finds the 
truth, the understanding, of which God spake: 
"GET WISDOM, GET UNDERSTANDING, 
and SEEK YE THE KINGDOM FIRST and all 
things shall be added unto you." His kingdom 
is so full of wonders, so enlivened with possibili- 
ties, so quickened with truth, with life, that were 
we to seek all our days we would not find the end 
thereof. But the SUPPLY is given in these 
words: "ALL THINGS NEEDFUL shall be 
added unto you." 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 269 

Then we have the little red ant, the true 
Americans, who are sticklers for caste, and 
very refined among their people. The little 
loves are coy, hard to please, hard to win, and 
socially inclined; while the lovers are much 
as the Knights of old, gallant, persevering 
and determined. Then, we have our little 
tramps, who live on the grubbage of bees' 
nests. The little foreigners that "come over" 
in sacks and boxes are not in love with 
America, and do not live long. The little 
Mexican ants do most of their work at 
night. 

As a whole, they are a most interesting lot 
of "little people,' ' well worth considering in 
our world of dreams, for in them is a certain 
kinship attuned to the Divine whole. It cannot 
help but make us very happy to know and see 
the working principles of Divine will in all 
God's creatures. In it we see so much that 
points to something BEYOND nature that ex- 
presses IN nature — controls nature. 

We are, after all, much as a sheaf of wheat 
reposing in the quiet beauty of nature, waiting 
for the thrasher, not realizing to what great 
destiny our soul is intended. Nor can we 
bring ourselves to perfection until we submit 
to the thrasher of greater destinies — the 
SUBLIME SPIRITUAL FORCE that sepa- 
rates the wheat from the chaff. It is a time of 
up-to-date miracles. The power that produces 
miracles is continually working in and through 
our affairs, our body, soul and mind. It is a 



270 FACE TO FACE 

part of the Divine whole, in which we are par- 
takers in no small way. We must have more 
faith in the power of the spoken word, if we 
ever hope to materialize pleasing conditions, 
and trustworthy things of import. We must 
have more faith if we ever hope to reach the 
perfection of the Divine ideal, the possibilities 
of mind over matter; or until we fully accept 
the fact that electricity IS directly connected 
with Divinity. 

Why not? Electricity is the penetrating 
FOECE flowing freely from the DIVINE with 
its magnetic thermal chemical effects. It is the 
agency in which is the phenomena of life, hence 
retires into Divine Science — Evolution. When 
we DO fully understand, and have more faith 
in the power of spirit, avenues will he opened 
through which man may wander in the ways of 
God, in greater and lesser intelligences, in the 
power of things, in nature and the soul, and 
fathom the possibilities of them and IN them. 

To materialize an ACTIVE REALITY in 
any hoped-for thing or expression of life, is 
to QUIETLY affirm HIS POWER IN ALL 
THINGS. We thus admit the spirit of truth to 
dwell within us richly. This is none other than 
reaching the Divine source where God is our 
supply and the power to work through that 
supply. There are those who rebel against the 
light ; they do not know the WAYS 
THEREOF. "For the way of the Lord is 
RIGHT and all His works are done IN 
TRUTH, " 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 271 

We find in the law of electricity as directly 
connected with Divinity, another law — that of 
Vibrations. These have taken, and do take, a 
great part in our lives. Take for example, the 
DIAL OF AHAZ. Much that enables man to 
attract enough Divine substance to himself in 
spiritual truth, while passing through this 
expression of life, lies in the simple little fact 
VIBEATIONS, in which the great principle 
"I DO BELIEVE" resounds. These words 
coming from the soul FILLED WITH LIGHT 
open the door to healing, quickening forces in 
nature. The inharmonious discord that rules 
the world today is ONE of the results of intem- 
perate temperament. It vanquishes the good, 
hence man cries for the veil to be lifted; yet 
we cannot speak of the SUPREMACY of 
knowledge, until we have first sought the 
SOURCE of supreme and practical under- 
standing. 

Again, let us note that electricity is directly 
connected with Divinity and its POSSIBILI- 
TIES LIMITLESS. Electricity is a means of 
communication that enables us to fathom the 
depths of understanding, getting close to the 
soul of things, the soul of man, the soul of 
the world. Electricity exhibits magnetic and 
thermal effects, is active, spirited, the DYNAMO 
BETWEEN MORTAL AND DIVINE, SOUL 
AND NATURE. It is a play between electric 
positive and magnetic negative. As science 
claims that matter exists in space, it is easy to 
recognize the power of spirit working in and 



272 FACE TO FACE 

through substance; the co-mingling of material 
and Divine vibrations. Vibrations from the 
ALL MIGHTY could not only turn the dial of 
Ahaz backwards ten degrees, but worlds. And 
this answers one more of Ingersoll's positive 
denials. To what LENGTH vibrations may 
carry us in time can only be imagined at this 
time. Vibrations coming from the ALL MIGHTY 
could remove or create worlds. What then 
have we to fear by seeking the Kingdom first? 

Vibrations, my friend, are the powerful mag- 
netic force that compels SOUL WAVES to 
respond to the MIGHTINESS OF HIS WILL. 
Divine vibrations reach the earth and miracu- 
lously turn the tide in affairs. New forces 
are set to work, new deeds enacted, new 
motives, new ideals inspired, materialized, and 
thus the earth is replenished. "I will replenish 
the earth, ' ' saith the Lord. It is well, at this 
point, to turn our attention a moment to the 
Deluge. The question of its purpose comes 
first in thought. This is soon answered by the 
above quotation: "I will replenish the earth,' ' 
saith the Lord. God, in His Infinite wisdom, 
sought the relief of coming generations from 
the EESULTS of sin, sickness and diseases 
that were at that time so prevalent. "And 
God saw that the wickedness of man WAS 
great in the earth AND THAT EVERY 
IMAGINATION OR THOUGHT OF HIS 
HEART was only EVIL CONTINUALLY." 
EVIL thoughts, like Aaron's rod, a serpent 
turneth into. God said: "I will destroy MAN 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 273 

from the face of the earth," but He did not say 
SOUL. Pie sought also to cleanse nature, puri- 
fy the contaminating conditions existing in the 
world. 

"Noah was a just man, and perfect in his 
generations, AND NOAH walked with God." 

Next we will deal with IngersolPs works and 
queries as to the question of space. 

"Booms thou shalt make in the ark, and 
pitch it within and without with pitch." As 
the ark was 550 feet long, 91 feet, 8 inches 
wide, and 55 feet high — the ark being divided 
into ■ three decks or stories — the question of 
space is greatly lessened; there would be many 
stowaways in such construction. 

INGERSOLL: "At the top, one window 22 
inches square; ventilation must have been one 
of Jehovah's chief hobbies." 

LOTUS : This fact would proclaim the ani- 
mals to be very young; the damp and chill of 
the flood would seriously affect young animals. 
It was rather a matter of protection than 
ventilation. 

INGERSOLL: "What had these animals to 
eat on their journey? What did they drink? Of 
course, when the rains came the rivers ran to seas 
and the seas rose and finally covered the world 
with water. The waters of the seas mingled with 
those of the flood would make salt water. To find 
out how salt the water of the flood would be, take 
eight quarts of fresh water and add one quart 
from the sea." 



274 FACE TO FACE 

LOTUS : I will let a little child answer this : 
"Dere is oder ways of dittin' water when it yains 
than dippin' it up; it tood be tot in yittle buckets 
from de yittle window at de top, toodn't it? Or 
somtin' hunged outside. Or it tood have a spout 
wid a stopper on de inside." The wisdom of 
children often gives us surprising little movie 
pictures that please. 

Again, the very young could maintain life 
many more days than Noah was in the ark, on 
milk alone. The unclean are not usually classed 
as milk-giving animals, but it may have some 
weight in this case. 

INGERSOLL: "Noah had to take food for 
all; how long was he in the ark? Three hundred 
and seventy-seven days. Think of the food neces- 
sary for those monsters of the anti-deluged 
world. ' ' 

LOTUS : The stowaways in and about the 
ark could hold enough food, but the FACT is. that 
GOD HAD THE POWER TO APPEASE 
THEIR APPETITES. 

INGERSOLL: "How did they keep the ark 
clean?" 

LOTUS : There was probably some outlet 
drainage, as the little one says, "WITH 
STOPPERS TO 'EM." However, we will leave 
that to the imagination ; fact is, these details were 
better attended to than our theories could ever 
picture. 

These queries bring before us the little fact 
that man looks more to argument than he does to 
the BOW OF HIS PROMISE, whose reflection 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 275 

shines through all things, great and small. We 
can never get to the soul of things through argu- 
ment. SOUL IS THE INCORPOREAL 
NATURE OF MAN; in it is not debate, but 
TRUTH real and active. Ingersoll again turns 
us in the paths of little insects by asking, "Is it 
possible that an Infinite being would resort to 
such expenditures as to drive the Canaanites out 
of the country with hornets V God sees the 
END thereof. The little hornets, vibrating with 
the WILL OF GOD, enacted it. Hornets are 
little things, yet they vibrate with the powers 
that be, ready to enact even for those who 
believe in them and do not fear. There is a 
certain little throbbing sense, whether it be 
hearing or feeling, that dominates these little 
insects we cannot fully comprehend, though we 
see the working. The little throb takes place 
in what Professor Hines would call "the truth 
center in man," where the umbilical cord is 
attached. The throbbing is plainly discerned 
with the naked eye ; under microscopical test it is 
likened to a living nerve, only fuller, and a more 
tender mass of soft substance, which when 
throbbing causes various expressions of action — 
fear, revenge, or calm serenity — according to the 
conduct or attitude in mind of the investigator; 
proving them to be susceptible to suggestion, 
sensitive to will. When these little hornets are 
trained through kindness, they like it and will 
perform unasked, untutored, time and again. The 
female hornet seems to have a more docile 
temperament than the male, rather flirtatious, 



276 FACE TO FACE 

but manageable, after their confidence is won. 
Both male and female have a certain devoted 
delight in each other that speaks loudly of insect 
wooing. The unbounded love that seeks its mate 
in all expressions of life. Hence, the Divine 
purpose of God working in and through "THE 
LEAST OF THESE." 

In my own little laboratory of thought and 
investigation, I have found expressed love 
between male and female plants, trees and vege- 
tation generally. There is in these a commingling 
of SUBSTANCE in which the power of love 
generates, and brings great perfection in the 
various expressions of plant life. I should not 
like to plant a flower garden without its loves 
any more than I would like to keep a bird that 
could never find its mate because of closed bars, 
and swings to elate their quiet hours with a 
little bit of joy. NAY, I want all that is MINE 
to abound in the FULLNESS OF NATUKE AND 
SOUL; I want no tethered loves, no hopeless 
dwelling to be the portion of MINE; I want 
them to LIVE in the FULLNESS thereof. 

Ingersoll says: "It would have been just as 
well for God to have spoken the Canaanites out 
of the country as to have spoken the hornets in." 
It is through suffering, through trials, ideal, that 
we are made to see that "WE, OF OURSELVES, 
CAN DO NOTHING." That is the greatest 
truth in personal efficiency; it is the LAW of 
life brought HOME. Attunement to conditions, 
place or thing, may be made perfect through the 
spirit of contentment, and will finally obliterate 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 277 

the NEED of suffering, the truth made clear 
simplifies understanding. The Bible would be 
better understood and appreciated were we to 
study the nature OP THINGS GOD TEACHES 
THEOUGH. In the course of time and events 
truth always performs its duty. Injustice will 
triumph as long as it is fed by greed. 

THE EFFICIENCY OF GOD'S WORKS 

When nature beams, there the omnipotent 
finger points to the purpose. "And thou shalt 
make a plate of gold and engrave upon it like 
the engraving of a signet < HOLINESS TO THE 
LOED.' And thou shalt put on BLUE lace that 
it may be upon the face of the mitre; upon the 
front of the mitre shall it be. ' ' ' 

Colors have greater import than we sometimes 
think. Color is the EEFLEOTED MAGNETISM 
of nature. Again, natural things and spiritual 
things are inseparable. Colors have a peculiar 
FOECE radiating in and through substance. 
They absorb and reflect heat, cold, light; soothe, 
heal and compel, much as does spirit. It is well 
to remember that every cell in the human body 
is a well-spring of spiritual activity that makes 
more and more evident the fact, that colors 
HAVE varied and peculiar influences on the 
body, mind — and I might say — SOUL, of man- 
kind. For soul IS COLOE; is light, essence. 

Have you noticed the vapor rising above a 
field like unto a little cloud or heavy mist, when 
other near-by fields seemed clear and free? Did 
you liken the little rising vaporous cloud to 






278 FACE TO FACE 

thought pictures ascending to God for judgment, 
or did you liken it to active intelligence, spirit 
that takes on the spiritual body with ease and 
enacts the DIVINE EVERLASTING LIFE in 
which is the FULNESS of nature and the soul? 

We have the X-ray, the violet ray that will 
eventually teach man the UNITY of soul and 
nature. 

We are greatly endangered when we " score 
one" on a new invention when we do not accept 
the DIVINE WORKING POWER OF spirit that 
has made these things possible. They will 
become a menace and not a blessing if we per- 
sistently ignore this fact. 

God is in all things. 

"I, of myself, can do nothing." 

"All good things come from above." All good 
things, all great things, are DIRECTLY 
CONNECTED WITH DIVINITY. To REFUSE 
the DIVINE IN THEM is to refuse their 
substance. 

Colors have, and hold, a great part in things 
Holy, in things man has made, and things God 
has made; limitations in these, are past compre- 
hension. If friction appears in color schemes, 
it is due to the inharmonious construction with 
which man places colors, or the inharmonious 
condition existing between man and his associ- 
ates, in which the reflected coloring of things 
desired are unwholesome, untrustworthy or 
disloyal. The various phases of development 
shed their rays around us to quicken, heal, and 
enliven. It matters not what we do, the reflection 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 279 

is THEEE in the ether around us, felt by mortal, 
seen by spirit. Much as the shadow lies upon 
the rock, to warm, relieve, or chill; to quicken 
or kill any life upon the rock; as we ARE so 
shall it be. 

Many have made light of the building of 
temples, the patterns for coats, the sewing on 
of buttons, patterns for the utensils used in the 
temples, the color of robes, etc., the countless 
little details the Bible goes into. It is the little 
details that COUNT, my friend; in them is not 
ridicule, but truth. The patterns given exem- 
plify one of the greatest laws in nature — that of 
order and efficiency, harmony of purpose and 
attuned Godliness. These have been recom- 
mended to our use, sanctified by the word of 
God, and praise, hence made HOLY; the sym- 
bolic meaning of spiritual triumph. Unity with 
God; the expressive principle brought to bear by 
praise, works and faith, by letting life live in the 
FULNESS OF LAW AND ORDER; letting our 
purpose blend with the Divine color scheme in 
the realms of attunement. Just trusting the 
Master to keep our secrets. Keeping our color 
scheme within the bounds of the artistic and soul 
expressed truth, is unconsciously blending soul 
with nature, with the substance in nature, 
wherein man draws sustenance. It is not alone the 
man whose soul is filled with fear or tribulation 
that compels him to turn to his Creator; it is 
rather the natural response of spirit IN man 
answering the call from the Godhead. 

Color oft sends a sweet perfume o'er our 



280 FACE TO FACE 

senses. It is symbolic of youth and beanty; it 
harmonizes with some sense within our being 
which leaves the imprint of exalted joy; reaching 
some cell of spiritual activity, it flames forth in 
attunement with nature and soul. Colors we do 
not "take to" sicken, repel, leaving a gloomy 
feeling in their wake. These are out of harmony 
with our aura, as it were, our reflected shadow. 
Some perfumes create within us a great desire 
to DO something, much as the bugler sends a 
thrill of active desire to the youth who wants to 
JOIN THE ARMY, or something that will reflect 
in the world around him. As these run to art of 
soul for art's sake, they enliven with statutory 
effect, the color, life, existence, valor, honor, or 
integrity, the shadow on the rock ; seen by spirit, 
felt by man, passed on in greater deeds; and, 
finally meeting its vibrate waves of truth, 
ascends, as incense upon the altar of reason; we 
become attuned to the BLENDING, and thus 
things are made HOLY. The beautiful sym- 
metry of all things natural, fairly breathe the 
breath of perfume, light and color to those 
equally endowed with the same reflection; hence 
we understand more fully "AND HE 
BREATHED INTO THEM THE BREATH OF 
LIFE." Somehow when we think of the taber- 
nacles of old, the mitre, the doors of Shittim- 
wood, the engraving "HOLINESS UNTO THE 
LORD," we expect to find the reflection in our 
today. Unconsciously we sniff the air for the 
sweet incense, of which "THOU SHALT NOT 
BURN ANY STRANGE INCENSE," only the 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 281 

spirit of truth; fall upon our knees, and behold, 
the floor hath turned to gold, refined by the 
presence of the spirit that moved upon the 
face of the waters. We look and behold His 
image in coloring and art supreme, the rays 
of HIS SUN reflected through the substance of 
which the thing was created. We look again, and 
behold the door of Shittim-wood ; a ray of red 
falls over the side — the reflection from Calvary; 
and behold! We see the color THAT 
EEFLECTS upon the rock, the shadow of HOLY 
SACRIFICE ; we bend and kiss the hem of His 
garment and REJOICE IN THE COMING OF 
THE LORD. Some well-spring within has burst 
asunder and we behold HIS LIKENESS AND 
IMAGE. The sweet perfume of HIS presence 
o'ershadows all. 

Thus "DO WE ABIDE IN THE SHADOW 
OF THE ALMIGHTY." We plant in the heart 
the symbol sanctified to our use, as the men of 
old planted trees in the Desert of Sinai. It may 
take us, perchance, the four years to know their 
true worth. We cultivate every little expression 
of life, of use, of purpose, until we DO reap 
the reward of FOUR, which "is the most perfect 
of numbers — four corner or square" — the root 
of all things representing the power of producing 
and generating virtue. 

If Adam had not fallen, and his shadow on 
the rock not reflected sin, it is well to question 
whether man would have been born in the 
carnal sense or not. But as Adam DID sin, and 
his reflection is still on the rock, and shame was 



282 FACE TO FACE 

born, it stands to reason that, as man is born 
in the carnal sense, he must be redeemed in the 
spiritual sense. This would lead to another 
thought. Man is not endowed with the sins of 
Adam, but the INHERITANCE OF GOD. 
Though man has suffered from the FIRST 
CAUSE OF SIN, he is enabled, by Divine intelli- 
gence, to RISE ABOVE SIN. 

So much has been said of the doves used for 
purification that I want to add my mite. It is 
not the dove or its feathers that purify, but 
WHAT THE DOVE STANDS FOR, which is 
PEACE. The blood of the dove is the life force; 
it is the substance of things, seen and unseen; 
it is the fount of life; hence we have the truth in 
it; LIFE AND PEACE, or LIVE IN PEACE. 
To live in peace is to sanctify not only the ONE, 
but the thousandth and one. It means SAVED, 
CLEANSED, it is the DIVINE PRINCIPLE 
FOR WHICH THESE THINGS STAND, the 
symbol of all that makes them HOLY, sanctified 
to one purpose. 

Little emblems of the Real come to us like 
waves of inspiration. They bob up in our paths, 
and with their Divine purpose ringing in them, 
testify the power of nature and the soul. We 
never grow tired of looking at them; never grow 
weary of learning the simple but sweet lessons 
they teach. There is wisdom in whatever these 
little things teach us, whether they be animate 
or inanimate. However, animate things call 
forth an abundance of resources from which we 
may draw sustenance. 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 283 

In expressions of the real we find an illumi- 
nating presence. Take for example the reflected 
color of soul, of being, of the physical. As we look 
we behold one of the most beautiful expressions 
of the real; it is the unbounded illuminating love 
of GOD blending His purpose for man, as the 
artist mixes his colors for some great master- 
piece he HOPES will not be disappointing in 
effect. Little hopes, little fears, how many times 
you cause little tears from BIG HEARTS ; little 
hopes from great souls; little smiles from lips 
of love; little emblems of the real, how many, 
many channels you pass through before you come 
to us! 

Nature is a REDEEMING FORCE, repro- 
duced by the SANCTIFIED PRESENCE OF 
GOD, in which HE PROVES THE CONTIN- 
UITY OF LIFE, and the marvelous REPRO- 
DUCTION OF SEEMINGLY INANIMATE 
THINGS. Nothing is inanimate WHEN GOD IS 
IN IT. God is life; God is light; God is love— 
the SUBSTANCE OF ALL. 

Spirit is TRUTH; perfection is found in it. 
Nature, Oh, soul of Truth, what art thou but 
GOD! 

NATUBE'S PEACE 

Oh, what peace, what comfort you bring, 
When nature breaks forth, and begins to sing 
ALL ABOUT; whispers of God's holy love, 
Whispers His promise in the clouds above. 
It falls as gently as the milkweed 's fleece, 
Whispering— PEACE— SWEET PEACE. 



284 FACE TO FACE 

NATURE'S PASSION 

Flowers are crushed, while the rain drops sob, 
It is for a purpose, it comes from God. 
Love never blights, that it doesn't bring 
Something for which we afterwards sing. 
The lightning stabs the heart of the earth, 
The stars gleam forth at each new birth. 
God's will in Nature ever rings true, 
COULD it do less in the SOUL OF YOU? 

Down in our field is an emblem of the real. 
It is strong, sturdy, and yet beautiful. It does 
not know what else to do, so it just LIVES on. 
We have the REAL with us always, but this 
PARTICULAR EXPRESSION OF THE REAL 
comes up every spring. One day a well-meaning 
but hungry horse stepped on it. "Oooooo, but it 
did HURT. It will hinder my growth,'' cried 
the emblem of the real — a little dandelion. 
"Please go away." The foot moved; little dan- 
delion tried to raise her crushed leaves, but they 
were too weak, so she sensibly said : ' ' Oh, well, it 
can't be helped. I will just bide my time and try 
again tomorrow." The sun was bright when 
dandelion awoke the next morning. She uncon- 
sciously stretched herself towards it. To her 
dismay, she found that some of her finest leaves 
had fallen off in the night, but as she was so 
sensible, she just said: "I will have more 
strength for the other leaves anyway." And so 
little dandelion kept on growing just as fast as 
she could. One day she was astonished to see a 
lot of little green buttons on her coat of green, 
when two ladies came along with a knife and a 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 285 

bucket. Nearly all of the little dandelion neigh- 
bors were dug up and put in the pail ; by and by 
it was dandelion's turn. The lady stooped, 
pulled her pail close to little dandelion, her knife 
glistened. " 000000000/ ' cried dandelion, shiv- 
ering. "I will not dig this one, Grace. It is 
too strong; see, it has buttons on its coat; it 
would spoil the flavor of the more tender ones." 
So they left dandelion happily alone. "See," 
cried dandelion, "all my little neighbors have 
been taken to the cook's kitchen. It pays to have 
experiences, if they DO hurt sometimes. It 
was a near tragedy, I guess, but it was a 
good one." Time grew and grew into weeks. 
Dandelion looked at the buttons on her coat, 
behold they were GOLDEN. "The reward of 
patience, I guess," she murmured. And then 
one day the golden buttons disappeared, and in 
their place were great white pompons. "I am 
spirit now," cried little dandelion, "that's the 
way folks do. I am so lonely, I will just have 
to blow away by myself, I guess." Pretty soon 
another little spirit dandelion lit right in her 
midst. "Come with me," it said; "ours is an 
ideal trial." "Why, how is that?" said little 
dandelion. "Come on," cried the spirit dande- 
lion, "let go THE OLD STALK and we can 
go on." So little dandelion blew away with the 
other little spirit dandelion. "Oh, isn't this 
LOVELY 1 ' ' cried little dandelion ; " I feel so light, 
and no old horse can step on me now, I can't 
be still long enough; I am going to light right 
on that old lady's hand." The old lady pulled 



286 FACE TO FACE 

her glasses down over her eyes and exclaimed 
in pleasurable surprise : ' ' The very finest speci- 
men I have seen this year; I am going to take 
it home with me this instant !" 

Little dandelion was destined to sit in the 
parlor under a big glass globe all the rest of her 
life and listen to Susan play the organ. "Oh 
what an ideal trial," cried little dandelion; "if 
the old horse hadn't stepped on me I would be — 
goodness knows where. I had far rather hear 
Susan play the old organ; her heart is in it, 
anyway. ' ' 

By accepting the TEU'TH in contentment, we 
rise above carnal sense. Art must have its dash 
of color to bring out the high lights and shadows. 
So with nature in man; it must respond ONLY 
to the harmonious that brings out the rich notes 
of soul in expression, and vibrating HYMNS 
in nature. 

In nature there are no hard lines. Even the 
rock is softened by some sweet plant, leaf or 
shrub; the stones of the desert have the relief 
of butterfly wings, the blossoming cactus, the 
sparkling sands, reflect some note of color and 
magnify beauty of purpose. Not one note in 
nature is sung without its corresponding echo in 
things. There is always the little laughter 
beneath the still waters, the little thrill of happi- 
ness waiting for some expression to call it forth 
in song. The carnal attracts serpentine things — 
not the little ripple of happiness that man's heart 
longs for. 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 287 

A LITTLE CALL TO ART 

IN THE BEAUTY OF THE OLD 

We look back through the dust of ages and 
see one of the great masters of old sitting just 
outside his door. His chair is tipped back 
against the lattice work upon which grow count- 
less roses of a climbing variety. A pipe with a 
wonderful long stem rests in his hand; a merry 
twinkle gleams from his eye as he sees at the well 
near by HIS THEME. He bids it welcome ; he 
dreams on and on; he LIVES A PICTURE the 
brush has not as yet touched. BY LIVING his 
theme he has WON one of the greatest of tech- 
nical points— that of FEELING; the rest is 
easy. The little daubs of paint fairly spring to 
life; his heart, his soul is ON CANVAS, with no 
thought of the morrow, or where this living thing 
may find a price. His soul has LIVED and 
expressed itself in the fullness of beauty, of being 
created from the beautiful. MASTERS are 
those who DARE TO LIVE IN THE FULL 
NESS THEREOF. That is the secret. 

It is not because it IS old that we value the 
old. It is the vibrating spiritual understanding 
that gives us light TO SEE the true VALUE in 
it; in other words, it is spirit meeting spirit. 
YESTERDAY will not return again. Let it 
go, and take with it the errors of ignorance, of 
self will. "LET THERE BE LIGHT/ ' The 
power of the spoken word penetrates the NEW 
DAY with a new light by which we may "GET 
KNOWLEDGE, GET WISDOM, GET UNDER- 
STANDING." 



288 FACE TO FACE 

Burn the atoms of regret upon the cinders of 
forgetfulness. When the fire burns low, they 
will have lost their power to consume our life 
forces by their habit of depriving us of our 
better judgment. LET THEM GO, AND LIVE 
IN THE LIGHT OF THE NEW DAY. The 
pictures of the old masters are still upon the 
walls of memory; BUT IT IS THE LESSON 
THEY TEACH we take with us into the dawn 
of the new day. THIS IS THE ART OF 
LIVING; the call of the soul in nature. Every 
new day brings a new chance. Make the most 
of it. 

INGERSOLL: "It seems to me that the first 
organized religious ceremonial was the worship 
of the sun. The sun was the first sky father, 
the all seeing, the source of life, the fireside of 
the world; the sun was regarded as one who 
fought darkness, the power of evil, the enemy 
of man. There have been many sun gods, and 
they seem to have been the chief deities in the 
ancient religions. They have been worshiped in 
many lands, by many nations, they have passed 
to death and dust. Apollo was a sun god, and he 
fought and conquered the serpent of night; 
Buldur was a sun god, and he was in love with 
the dawn; Hercules was a sun god, and so was 
Sampson, whose strength was in his hair. All 
of these gods had gods for fathers, and their 
mothers were virgins. 

"The birth of nearly all was announced by 
stars, celebrated by celestial music, and voices de- 
clared that blessings had come to the poor world. 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 289 

All of these gods were born in humble places; in 
caves, under trees, in common inns, and tyrants 
sought to kill them when they were babies. All 
of these sun gods were born in the winter solstice, 
on Christmas ; nearly all were worshiped by wise 
men. All of them fasted forty days; all of them 
taught in parables ; all of them wrought miracles ; 
all of them met with a violent death, and all of 
them rose from the dead. The history of these 
gods is the exact history of our Christ. His is 
not a coincident, an accident. Christ was a 
sun god. Christ was a new name for an old 
biography — a survival — the last of the sun gods. 
Christ was not a man, but a myth ; not a life, but 
a legend. 

"I have found that we have not only borrowed 
our Christ, but that all of our sacraments, 
symbols and ceremonies, were legacies that we 
received from the buried past. There is nothing 
original in Christianity. ' ' 

LOTUS : We came into the Aeroplane, but we 
made kites first. There is always a beacon light 
burning from the Infinite that ILLUMINES 
THE REASON OF MAN. It is not strange, nor 
passingly strange, that man first sought Christ 
in the SUBSTANCE OF THINGS BRIGHT, 
LIGHT, PURE and POWERFUL. Man in the 
dungeon of carnal sense gropes towards the first 
ray of light penetrating the darkness. Christ 
opened the door of carnal prison when He came 
to ennoble and save mankind; hence the pro- 
gression of man in spiritual truth. 



290 FACE TO FACE 

Years before we had the automobile we had 
carts, wheelbarrows, engines, and then, acme of 
inspiration — then the EEAL, and now we ride 
in THINGS we had never thought of possessing. 
It is the same with men of old. They sought 
Christ, yet they knew Him not. He made Him- 
self felt ages before His coming. 

Our greatest gifts of spirit do not come to us 
in bounds, but by the building of temples. The 
LAW must be made manifest; first the patterns 
given, and then BEHOLD, the SPOKEN WOED. 

In applied reason, in applied science, the 
method of Christ was a scientific principle. He 
sought to relieve mankind of the burdens of 
ignorance; He sought to cast out devils of 
unreality, and apply reality — the most sublime 
theme ever materialized. The lifting of man 
from carnal prison, from FALSE worship, 
FALSE ideals, the placing before him the 
FEEEDOM OF SPIEIT, was what Jesus 
worked for, died for. The scarlet memory left 
on Calvary exemplifies sacrifice. 

So-called death is the quickening of spirit; the 
shedding of the old, the taking on of the new; 
it is a step into the sunshine of Afterwhile. 
Through sacrifice death is sanctified. Birth is 
the link that binds the material and the spiritual. 

It is not strange that the birth of the Holy 
should come in the winter time, or that man and 
spirit should select winter as an emblem of birth. 
Frost and snow, falling as gently as the milk- 
weed's fleece, penetrates EVERY ATOM OF 
COEEUPTION, and makes way for the spirit 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 291 

of spring. Life is dormant to nature's growth 
in winter, but ALIVE to spiritual birth. Nature 
sleepeth for a while, while the angels make 
READY for the coming of the bride. 

Christ compels obedience TO the law, whether 
in the body, or out of the body. Though the 
rosebush be stripped of its thorns the blossoms 
return again and again in profusion and fragrant 
beauty. The phenomena of growth without the 
thorns, therein lieth the mystery. Never-the-less 
God's PURPOSE is reflected in the power TO 
OVERCOME ERROR, though it may seem but 
a part of nature's growth. It IS THE LAW of 
eternal hope sanctified through the beauty of 
Spirit. Spirit and — nature are inseparable. What 
then more befitting than the birth of the Holy in 
winter time? Or that man FIRST sought Christ 
in the pure, the beautiful and divine. 

These respond to the call of the soul seeking 
its own; this seems very simple when we realize 
that Spirit is above all; in all; surrounding all; 
regardless of time, place or thing. It is the nature 
of spirit to develop its subjects. 

Learn to meet FACE TO FACE the LITTLE 
THINGS in the MELODY of UNITY; then— will 
nature ring the vespers of attunement IN THY 
SOUL. 

It is in the hidden places, in caves, the old 
inns, that we most often find PRICELESS 
curios, rare flowers, hidden treasures, enshrouded 
in the spirit of truth, in which there is no 
mystery — but life. Oh, the wonderful, wonderful 
silence in which we gather the forces together, 



292 FACE TO FACE 

preparing the way for new and greater things! 
The blossoms of spiritual uplift fall so gently 
upon our heads, we do not know they are there, 
until their fragrance arouses our senses to 
greater harmony of purpose. The little fly that 
buzzes around our blossoms carries on its wings 
the expression of happiness; why look to its 
sting? Bothersome things are sometimes our 
greatest blessings; they distract us from the 
error of thought, or enliven the conscience to 
greater attainments. 

THE OLD RAG DOLL 
ON THE HEARTH 

Our little blessings in disguise sometimes 
wear their mask to more than one ball, that we 
may hear repeatedly the music that quickens to 
action. We wander to the little wayside inn 
to find the sweet spirit of truth. It is there 
we seek curios, rare and priceless. The old clock 
ticking away in yon corner has beheld the 
coming and going of countless years, numberless 
souls, and yet it ticks on as happily, as surely, 
as though it were just born into the world of 
things. We wander closer, look long upon its 
yellow wrinkled face. Smiling at us in the 
still brilliant pendulum are faces that have long 
gone to rest; the weighty pendulum swinging 
to and fro on its chain, recalls the sweet assur- 
ance that though gone, in a physical sense, they 
are still with us; and lo, someone is calling — 
someone is calling. 

' 'Yes, grandmother; what is it?" 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 293 

' ' Dear, what were you thinking of, staring at 
the old clock ?" 

"Grandmother, I was counting the pages in 
its diary.' ' 

"Were you, dear? Then let me add a page or 
two. When I was only seventeen, your great- 
grandmother and grandfather died, leaving me 
alone in the old inn in which I had been born. 
At first I was very much worried as to how I 
should get on, and whether I should stop in the 
old inn, alone or not. I was not financially fijbted 
to run the place without an occasional guest, and 
I was afraid somewhat to take in strangers. It 
worried me so, that I told the old clock about it 
one night when it was striking the weird hour of 
three. It seemed to say: 'Go to the garret — 
go to the garret — go to the — garret.' I could 
hear no other sound save the crowing of the 
cock in the back yard; it seemed, indeed, weird 
and lonely. But I lit the candle, placed it care- 
fully in the stick, gathered my nightrobe tighter 
about my shivering form and wended my way 
upstairs to the garret. I looked about, but could 
see no reason for my coming, and was beginning 
to feel somewhat disheartened when I spied, in 
a far corner, my old rag doll. It had been SUCH 
a comfort when I was a child; and mother had 
treasured it because I loved it so. Tenderly I 
took it in my arms and, as when a child, sang 
to it the lullaby I had lisped when baby days 
grew long. Tears fell upon the little silk gown, 
now so faded, that mother had so carefully 
made. I examined every stitch. It seemed that 



294 FACE TO FACE 

the love those dear fingers had wrought into 
it was still there in all its magnetic power. 

"A light broke through the cobwebbed window 
and it was no longer night. I snuffed my candle, 
hugged my dolly tight and descended to the 
dining-room, placing my treasure on the old 
stone hearth. The clock chimed happily one — 
two — three — four — FIVE. It was time to do the 
milking. I told dolly to stay right there on the 
hearth until I returned. It was a comfort to 
have something to talk to. 

" After the milking was accomplished, I re- 
turned to find a stranger on my hearth, a great 
strong man, with black hair and eyes that seemed 
to mock my loneliness. He eyed me sharply : 

" 'How soon will breakfast be ready, lass? I 
am hungry, and must be off/ 

"Not a little bewildered, I made breakfast — the 
servants having left at the death of father and 
mother — fearing to live, as most darkies do, in 
a house where someone had died. As I brought 
in the tray of breakfast, the stranger terrified 
me by asking were I alone. I looked quickly at 
the old rag doll on the hearth. 

" 'No— n— o, sir, I AM NOT,' burst from my 
lips. 

" 'Good enough; hurry up breakfast, lass; 
where is the coffee V 

"A more silent breakfast was never partaken 
of in the little inn. My uninvited guest arose, 
walked to the hearth, gave the old rag doll a 
vigorous kick, then caught me as I passed and 
imprinted on my cheek a kiss. Horrified, I ran 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 295 

screaming from the inn, to see the stranger 
mount his horse and away. I stood for a moment 
wonderng how I could remove the inn sign 
that swung upon its rusty hinges, when some- 
thing whispered in my ear, 'Do not take it down, 
dear; you might entertain an angel unawares/ 
"Two weeks went by; my dolly was not again 
kicked from the hearth; she sat there in state, 
listening to all the weird tales I told her. Oft- 
times we would discuss the stranger and his 
queer ways. One day I had a different tale to 
tell dolly ; I looked at her with tears in my eyes — 
* Dolly, if someone does not come to the inn real 
soon we will want for bread; we only have Bess, 
and she gives us milk, and the chickens they 
give us eggs; but we just CAN'T LIVE ON 
THEM, Dolly; someone MUST come and dine.' 
The old clock chimed nine. 'NINE,' I CRIED, 
1 rhymes with DINE'; the clock was telling us 
someone WOULD come to dine in the only 
language it knew. *I wonder WHO is coming, 
Dolly?' She looked wise, but thought best not 
to answer. 

"The knocker told of an approaching guest. I 
almost ran to the door, meeting an old lady with 
snow white curls peeping out from under a quaint 
little bonnet. 

" 'It is cold, dear child; brew me a cup of tea,' 
she whispered as she drew close to the fire. 

1 ' Her trembling hands took, almost impatiently, 
the proffered cup of tea. 

" 'You here alone, dear!' 



296 FACE TO FACE 

"This time no horror filled my heart when I 
answered, 'Yes, only — for dolly there/ 

" 'I see,' said the quaint old soul, 'only for 
dolly there; and pray tell, why dolly, at your 
age?' 

"I told her the tale of the clock; she listened 
attentively. Finally I told her of the stranger 
and how he had frightened me. The light in the 
dear old eyes seemed to kindle as she murmured. 

" 'Tell me, quick, what did he look like?' 

"I told her. She said: 

" ' I wonder, will he ever come to the inn again, 
or is it a passing fancy?' 

"I hoped not, I told her; but she seemed not 
to hear. The clock chimed out — ONE. 

" 'ONE,' cried the old soul; 'ONE, GOD' 
GRANT IT MAY BE JUST ONE.' 

' ' She remained with me a month. At the end of 
that time the good neighbors brought from the 
post office a box neatly tied; in it was a NEW 
EAG DOLL. A little note: 'The old one may 
have lost her footing. Hope this one will do.' 
Gleefully the dear old soul, who had become to 
me both friend and mother, searched the box for 
more missives, but found none. 

" 'If you will allow me, my dear, I will stop 
with you the winter through; I need you, and 
evidently you need me. What do you say?' 

' ' Oh, how happy I was ! The long winter months 
ripened into greater happiness as we grew fonder 
and fonder of each other; sitting with the new 
and the old rag dolls the long winter evenings 
telling tales of wonder to them. 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 297 

" 'I think your great-grandmother, dear, must 
have sat up in heaven in astonishment at my 
ingenuity in conjuring up fables/ 

"Chistmas Eve we were planning dinner for 
the following day. 

" 'Oh, let us have an old-time New England 
dinner, ' said my dear old friend! 'You may 
hitch up and go to town for some little luxuries, 
if you like.' 

"One — Two — Three — Four, chimed the old 
clock. 

" 'You should be home by seven, if you go now, 
dear. ' 

"I hitched up old Tom, who was glad enough 
for the exercise, and cantered away over the hills 
to the merry sound of bells, returning at thirty 
minutes past six; Tom unhitched, and the dain- 
ties placed upon the kitchen table. Happily we 
untied each little bundle; now and then a sage 
wag of the dear old head told me of approval. The 
clock again chimed One — Two — Three — Four. 

" 'What in the world is the matter with that 
clock; that is twice it has struck Four,' and she 
sat down, putting her feet in the oven of the 
kitchen stove, moodily wondering. 

"Hastily we both sprang to our feet; the smell 
of burning cloth permeated the house. Hastily 
I rushed to the dining-room to find the old rag 
doll in flames. I took the tongs and placed her 
on the burning logs. 

' ' ' My poor dear child, ' said the dear soul, tears 
in her eyes ; ' How you will miss her ! ' 



298 FACE TO FACE 

"I looked at the new rag doll sitting upon the 
chair in all her splendor and — may God forgive 
me — I BLUSHED. We retired to our room 
early. We had long ago decided we could not be 
separated, even at night, so both occupied the big 
feathery four-poster. Sleep soon came — as it 
always does to contented happy minds. Some- 
time towards morning I was aroused by a 
resounding knock on the inn door. The clock 
chimed— ONE— Two— Three— Four. 

" 'For land's sake, what ails that clock ?' came 
from beneath a deep feather bolster. 'I will go 
down stairs with you, dearie; you ought not go 
alone. ' 

"But I assured her that it would be all right, 
and wended my way down the stairs with 'Wait 
a moment, stranger; I am coming.' The door 
swung back to admit MY STRANGEB. The 
snow had almost covered his black hair; in his 
arms were loads of bundles. Without question, 
he imprinted a kiss upon my forehead, and com- 
manded me to run back before I should catch 
cold. I flew up the stairs, pulled the pillow 
from the dear white head, and told her ALL. A 
little chuckle startled me. 

" 'Oh, dearie, I hear him building a fire; isn't 
that just REAL NICE, it is so cold; and, — 'em — 
I smell coffee.' 

"A cheery call ascended the stairway — 'Come, 
breakfast is on the table.' 

"We went down together; the old clock struck 
One — Two — Three — Four. The little withered 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 299 

form slipped into two great outstretched arms: 
MOTHEE— SON! 

" 'How dear of you, mother, to treasure my 
little love.' 

" 'And I — I was so afraid it was just passing 
fancy, Jack.* 

" 'And I was afraid you would not stay here, 
mother, until I could come.' 

"A merry trio sat down to breakfast of great 
doughnuts and coffee; an old set of blue china 
graced the table; hot-house plants flourished 
amidst branches of holly and mistletoe; as we 
three planned the joys for the day. That night 
came all too soon, while we danced to the music 
of an old Jew 's-harp ; the clock chimed One — Two 
__Three— Four. 'The HANDS HAVE CAUGHT.' 
'WHEN?' cried Jack, as he put his two arms 
around me, clasping his hands behind my back. 

" 'In four weeks/ I cried, and looked insinuat- 
ingly at the old clock. 

" 'My dear child, THAT was YOUR grand- 
father, the best man that ever lived; but he 
would KICK. , 

"I had found my answer in the old rag doll on 
the hearth. In my soul it had awakened an old 
truth; that is, the love that always bubbles like 
a well-spring of joy in the WINTER TIME, AT 
CHRISTMAS TIME; in the little things, humble 
things, in which the Christ came to save and 
ennoble mankind. The hour has not yet come to 
you or to me; when it does, the striking of the 
clock will sound the sweeter for the GIFT OF 



300 FACE TO FACE 

LITTLE THINGS IN WHICH GOD WORK- 
ETH THE SALVATION OF THE MANY." 

It is a wonderful thing to know that mankind 
through ignorance and sin has still held, through 
all, the PRINCIPLES that led to the Manger in 
which truth abideth. In it was born the Son of 
God; above it shone the Star of Hope; over all 
poured the SUN of HIS countenance. 

In the simple ways of old folk is the breath, 
spirit, of the Christ child; in the way of youth 
is the expression of love, found through ages of 
ignorance to be that of the Christ child. 

INGERSOLL: "I lack the necessary humility 
of spirit to satisfactorily harmonize Moses and 
Haeckel, or to think that I am carried away by 
pride, blinded by reason, given over to hardness 
of heart, that I might be damned; but I can 
never believe that the earth was covered with 
leaves and buds and flowers and fruits before 
the sun with its glittering sphere dawned, driv- 
ing backward the hosts of night." 

LOTUS: We take a film into the darkest re- 
cesses obtainable to develop the picture; we then 
bring it forth to the light in perfection. Is it 
strange that God should make a LIVING 
PICTURE in the soft lights and shadows? The 
law governing His work was the natural law of 
FINAL development. Why then should it be 
strange that He perfected His work before He 
brought it to the light of evolution? Progres- 
sion found birth through the WORD OF GOD, 
developed through works was accepted, by the 
highest in man as kin to his being, is perfected 






NATURE AND THE SOUL 301 

from generation to generation. Development 
begins in the soul of man ; it is not reflected with- 
out until it is perfected within; it begins in 
darkness, it ends in light. 

The spiritual man keeps open house, so to 
speak; his guests find repose of soul; the unseen 
teaches them companionship with the great. When 
man shuts himself IN, away from the THINGS 
of the world and the TRUTH IN THEM, he 
unconsciously turns from him the GREAT 
UNITY OF GOD WITH THE HUMAN SOUL, 
in which is imbedded intellectual action, moral 
character and Divine expression. 

Heaven bless the man that KEEPS HIS OWN 
COUNSEL and woos sleep by the sweat of his 
brow. A quiet intent is bound to bring satisfy- 
ing results when undertaken in UNITY with God 
and the higher forces, in assuredness and faith. 
When man is about to work out some ideal, in- 
spiration, or scientific expression, great waves of 
INDIVIDUALITY and the agency of spirit 
dominate his being. The intellectual INFLOW 
would be greatly lessened — if not entirely elim- 
inated — by the confusion of material minds; 
hence the value of Unity with God though the 
PURPOSE BE for man. "Go in thy closet and 
pray." 

Trust man less, my friend, and GOD MORE, 
and thou wilt find not alone repose of soul, but 
wealth of soul. To trust man less does not mean 
to have no faith in fellow man; on the contrary, 
it rather proclaims the FAITH IN HIS LIKE- 
NESS AND IMAGE. We thus ILLUMINE 



302 FACE TO FACE 

THE PRESENCE of the Divine within, and 
unwittingly call forth FAITH IN MAN, until a 
constant inflow of trust — the prevailing influence 
of truth, the I AM — throbs into expressive prin- 
ciples and awakens within the fact that he has 
intelligence, invisible, incorporeal, created to 
MEET the Divine in all things. This is the 
TRUTH made manifest. Spirit is much as the 
electric light, sending forth in calm and penetrat- 
ing brightness the POWER TO OVERCOME 
DARKNESS. 

Man refused the light in the Garden of Eden, 
hence the necessity of schooling, that man may 
again find and behold the light; all he needs is 
acceptance. Man despaireth in his ignorance until 
he awakens to the truth that LIVES and lets 
live in the fullest sense of BEAUTY and 
POWER, here and hereafter, accepting NAT- 
URALLY, NOT IN PART. We must create a 
desire to make living a SCIENCE while upon 
this plane that we may meet it in its FULL 
EXPRESSION OF BEAUTY in the Afterwhile; 
hence it is necessary to learn to discriminate 
between vibrations that are DIVINE, natural, 
and those of chaotic discord, that we may prop- 
erly adjust ourselves to the world of things in 
which we live. This is attunement of the higher 
order, of things. 

The so-called crime waves that come over the 
world in spasmodic effect at times, compel won- 
derment in the minds of all as to why such things 
exist, coming as they do in seemingly convulsive 
and transitory periods. To me, and to many 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 303 

others, it is not at all strange, but the natural 
result of CAUSE and EFFECT. We cannot 
send into the ether thoughts of a derogatory 
character and not EXPECT results; these fer- 
ment, you know. There is upon this material 
plane a gentle ebullition we will term sin. It 
brews and brews until it runs over the brim of 
conventionalities, reason and common sense. A 
certain UNITY OF SIN FORCES compel a 
wave of crime to drift over the world, finding 
expression in whomsoever it CAN demonstrate 
its EVIL POWER. 

A little child went one day to call upon a 
friend, taking her dolly's wardrobe for repairs. 
The day was one of exceptional climatic perfec- 
tion, so they picked up their chairs and wended 
their way to the porch. Cheerfully they com- 
pared the neatness of their stitches with the 
fineness of a wonderful cobweb, when the child 
threw up her hands as though to ward off some 
frightful object, finally falling prostrate and un- 
conscious at the feet of the friend. Thinking to 
assist the child, the friend placed her arms about 
her, preparatory to lifting her upon the chair, 
when she suddenly and naturally extricated her- 
self from the embrace and slipped back into the 
chair unaided. The friend wonderingly asked 
what she had seen to so terrify her. In answer 
the child shuddered and said: "I did not see 
anything, but I felt something so awf ui ; it seemed 
to be in the air; I never want to feel it again." 
Upon questioning the parents we found this con- 
dition had existed for eight years (the child was 



304 FACE TO FACE 

then ten years of age). They could give no 
cause for the condition, which they said returned 
every seven days as regularly as clock-work, in 
spite of the fact that they had spent almost a 
fortune on eminent physicians, who could not ex- 
plain. 

There are many children who are obsessed 
with the greatest of all miseries — FEAR — until 
it becomes an obsessing force, a spasmodic 
terror. " There must be some cause for such a 
condition existing in the child, ,, says the world, 
and then go about their duties forgetting, 
blaming the parents, when in nine cases out of 
ten the parents do not know the cause of such 
conditions any better than they do ; in fact, would 
give all they possess TO KNOW. It is an 
obsession that has brought about a physical 
weakness; unable to throw off the chaotic effect, 
the subject becomes a harboring negative that 
FEELS but cannot explain. This is one of the 
times that the invisible forces of evil obsess and 
claim the intelligence of the innocent, until 
conscience is temporarily lost. In many cases it 
is but a periodical mental impotent condition. 
Again, our asylums are filled with those who 
never have, never will regain their reason; nor 
will this condition lessen until OBSESSION is 
taken into greater consideration, its cause and 
its effect, and the antidote perfected and added 
to the ethics of practitioners. 

NEVER GIVE UP. There is always a way to 
help those who suffer and those who suffer with 
them. If we are strong enough to STAND 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 305 

FAST, we cannot fail to help them. When we 
are fitted to meet them, we are among those 
who live in pure conscience, those who are 
enabled to shed the spirit of truth, like the sun- 
beams, through the darkened recesses of soul 
contaminated with lust and fear, until the pene- 
trating rays fill the soul with light and they are 
healed. When we seem weak let us remember 
that while God trieth the heart, He also makes 
strong those who TEUST IN HIM. If we take 
God into our plans, we will not be made weak by 
the inflow of chaotic conditions; we will not be 
contaminated in body or soul; but we will RISE 
SUPREME TO MEET SUPREME, therein are 
WE made WHOLE. To be a child of God is to 
mingle with the children of God. 

"Your first duty is to self," says a kind friend. 
Yea, verily it IS, but duty is a MORAL OBLIGA- 
TION. There is a little well-spring in the human 
breast that will bubble up every now and then 
in rebellion towards those who try to tell us our 
duty, though the INTENT be EVER SO KIND- 
LY. "Duty is a moral obligation in DIRECT 
LINE TO TRUTH and righteousness. RIGHT is 
that which accords with the MORAL SYSTEM 
OF THE UNIVERSE. Righteousness is incar- 
nated in ACTION, ' ' thus we see we CANNOT shut 
ourselves in away from people and things, though 
our first duty be to ourselves. Our FIRST duty, 
however, is to see to it that we are MORALLY 
fitted to assume a duty: willing to be instructed 
in the requirements the duty or duties demand; 



306 FACE TO FACE 

co-operate with the cause sufficiently to bring 
about intelligent and active results. 

When we place others in God's hands we place 
ourselves there also, and our faith. When we 
use the word SELF, we must take into consider- 
ation that self is a part of the WHOLE; body, 
soul and mind. These are the reflection of His 
Divine will, through which we are enabled to 
EXPEESS the Divine within. Complete self- 
abnegation EXPRESSES the God within; it is 
through self-renunciation that we are taught the 
greatest lesson by Christ. 

When we waver from a purpose, we have not 
learned to SANCTIFY THAT PURPOSE ; when 
we do, the truth will be made clear to us with- 
out the exact operation of set opinions. We 
ALWAYS receive more than we EVER give 
from the hand that feeds the sparrows; that is 
the law of heaven's righteousness, the Divine 
law working through cause and effect. In express- 
ing the I AM is joy untold, not weakness, but 
righteousness in which is strength, power and 
EXALTED FAITH. It is one of the least of 
these to hand the perishing a cup of water. Are 
we not fully repaid by the love light in the eye of 
one who has suffered? We may carry the cup 
e'en unto the cross, but are we not refreshed by 
the spirit of truth that dwelleth therein! 

I cannot falter by the wayside though my 
strength be small. I cannot harbor thoughts that 
would retard my growth; no, not at all. Though 
I love you, love you, LOVE YOU, yet I cannot be 
less strong;. You would love me less were I not 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 307 

to illustrate my little song. It is the TILLING 
and the COUNTING that gathers in the grain. 

The pure ether around our afflicted ones has 
been contaminated with the fermenting qualities 
that grow into THINGS THAT TERRORIZE. 
When we fear we usually commit some deed that 
will sear the purest motives. When we shirk a 
duty, we weaken our ability to rise supreme to 
meet supreme, and the following duty is still 
harder to perform. In performance of duty 
we learn to accept it NATURALLY. What 
would seem to some a great burden, to us is 
but the following in His footsteps. It is recog- 
nition of that at-one-ness, and pure joy commin- 
gling with the fruits of honest purpose. A Duty 
performed is the harvesting of soul power in 
which the natural flow of the Divine finds ex- 
pression, not to weary, but bless; where nature 
and soul play the sweet relays of attunement. 

It is not enough that we teach children the 
rudimentary principles of arithmetic, grammar, 
etc. We must live with children in the great 
open, where the beauties of nature are, in which 
the little soul may wander until some inspiration 
is brought to bear in which character is built, and 
talents quickened into active principles. Ferns 
will not grow in the highlands nor cactus in the 
vales; the child likewise must be placed and 
taught according to its needs, if the best results 
are expected or desired. 

"SAFETY FIRST' ' should resound in the 
minds of those handing a book to a child ; for in 



308 FACE TO FACE 

it is danger or knowledge that will TELL in the 
life of the child some wav, some da v. 

"SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN TO COME 
UNTO ME, FOR OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM 
OF HEAVEN." 

Where the kingdom reigneth THERE is pure 
conscience, and it must find a HOME in the 
mother; then will it take root and blossom forth 
in the coming generation. Had I uot been taught 
by my mother, in the experiences of everyday 
life, the beauties and wisdom in life, I would not 
have found the richness of just living. Some- 
times I think I had the best mother that ever 
lived — Foster Mother though she be — so sweet, 
so gentle, so loving and thoughtful was she. Not 
once have I ever heard an angry word pass from 
those dear lips. Not once did her hand ever 
raise to strike, no, not once, in all her life. This 
quiet refined soul met nature in the harmony of 
attuned purpose, and though suffering and trials 
came, there was Nature and the Soul, of which I 
was a great partaker through her tireless efforts, 
her first and last thought. 

Angels stand at the open door waiting to hear 
of thee and more; what thee wants, and what 
thee needs, asking not thy life or creed; ever 
willing to stoop and bless; ever ready to pray, 
caress, the troubled brow of then and now. 

When I was a little tot, I was digging most 
earnestly in the earth with my little spoon, 
when mother asked me what I thought I was 
doing. I said I was digging down to China; 
think I'll get there pretty soon? In my mind 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 309 

was a beautiful picture of China. Mother had 
been teaching me of China and the ways of 
China, showing me many beautiful pictures the 
meanwhile. After I grew tired of digging and 
no China appeared, I went into the house and 
laid my head on mother's shoulder saying: "But 
it is such hard work to get to China. ' ' Tenderly 
she took me upon her lap and said: "I know, 
dear ; but then, did you not try too hard V 9 I said 
I guessed I had tried pretty hard, but how was I 
to get to China if I did not work hard! The 
answer was one never to be forgotten by me: 

"Dear, we should do OUR HONEST BEST 
IN ALL THINGS worth while, but there are 
some things not worth while — and it would not 
have been worth while to strive so hard to see 
China. I have taught you, dear, the beauties of 
China, but I have kept from you the things that 
were NOT beautiful. Had you dug down to 
China with your little spoon, you would have seen 
the ugly side of China, and that might have made 
you very, unhappy. When we strive TOO hard 
for things, it is pretty certain that something is 
going to give way, some hope, some ambition, 
something we have not counted on in the reckon- 
ing. It is better, my dear, to let things come to 
us naturally. When little girls — and big ones too 
— take a bigger piece of cake than is good 
for them, they are bound to suffer; but if they 
are satisfied with less, then the rest would come 
NATURALLY, as all things do when we are 
willing to WORK UP TO THEM. 



310 FACE TO FACE 

"Bemember this, little girl, that though our 
greatest desires are sometimes lost in the busy 
routine of life, there is always a little bird sing- 
ing somewhere in the quietude of conscience that 
will make the way easy to forget things we cannot 
possess. By and by we grow to not wanting 
them; and that is the PEACE that comes of a 
meek and quiet spirit." 

My little soul was appeased; I had no longer 
any desire to upheave China with my little 
spoon. A little inspiration was born that has 
carried me through the years, over rocks and 
rills, to the quiet calm born of Spirit. 

When we look through the veil of little things 
and penetrate their existence from days of yore 
up to the present time — such as matches, needles, 
pins and paper — and note how long they have 
been in coming to present perfection, and study 
the steady climb of things worked through 
nature and the soul, we can hardly marvel at the 
building of temples, the giving of patterns, of the 
miter, and the engraving 7 "HOLINESS TO THE 
LORD." All these little things began in 
primeval days; the inspiration came through 
nature's gifts to the people who first found their 
need. Like the little Mexican lady who first 
found that the Spanish saber plant made good 
pins, so was papyrus first inspired; and on and 
on, until time and custom, man's intelligence, and 
the power of spirit brought us paper, pins, needles 
and matches. 

Man has ever sought nature as the FULL- 
NESS OF ALL. When all others failed him he 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 311 

turned to nature for his answer. It raises us to 
heights untold when we stop to consider these 
things and set about investigating the working 
power of spirit through them. "WILL WON- 
DERS NEVER CEASE ?" springs to our lips; 
we fall upon our knees in thanksgiving ; the supply 
has been perfect, nothing wanting. And yet the 
infidel cries, "Does anyone know there is a God?" 
Oh, man of sorrows, hast thou not felt the work- 
ing power of something beyond nature that 
surges in thy being! Hast thou not seen with 
thine own eyes works not made with man's 
hands? Hast thine own soul not cried out in an- 
guish to the GOD OF LIGHT, LOVE AND 
TRUTH ? And thou hast looked about and behold 
these were THERE, expressing before thee, 
around thee, about thee! And thou callest unto 
them and they HEARD and answered within 
thine own soul. And thou hast cried out in the 
night of ignorance and light broke, and it was 
day, and LIFE in all its perfect way was express- 
ing, and didst thou say it was nature ? Then thou 
didst proclaim thy God, for it was nature and 
the soul that answered thee. 

I want to call your attention to the fact that 
every miracle God worked He was over or near 
water at the time. 

Every one knows what a bolt can be shot into 
substance by the commingling of water and 
electricity. 

If such a bolt were to be shot into the ether, 
what effect would it have, chemical development 
or PHYSICAL PHENOMENA? 



312 FACE TO FACE 

Every one has a THOUGHT atmosphere; what 
effect has electricity upon thought atmosphere? 

What is thought atmosphere? 

Atoms, substance, peace, poise or power. 

Then electricity WOULD cause a shock of 
greater or lesser character in the midst of these. 

What effect has shock on substance? 

It quickens or kills, according to the nature of 
the shock or the nature of the substance. 

Supposing it were to QUICKEN substance, 
what would be the result? 

LIFE! 

Every man has a thought atmosphere that has 
a definite character to formulate matter, sub- 
stance according to the ABILITY of the one who 
thinks. Thought atmosphere is SUBSTANTIAL 
— is felt keenly by man, interpreted by spirit. The 
power of spirit over matter is limitless ; it abounds 
in the GLORY OF THE REAL. Hence we see 
that electricity IS directly connected with Divinity. 

Is it hard then to Understand the Immaculate 
Conception; the creation of man; the creation of 
life, when vibrations coming from the fountain 
head the ALL MIGHTY SPIRIT THAT MOVED 
UPON THE FACE OF THE WATER, IS SO 
FAR REACHING in chemical, electrical, mag- 
netic, effect? 

Is it hard to understand the POWER of the 
spoken word, to CREATE substance, worlds ? 

Is it hard to have faith in the vibrating working 
power of SPIRIT when we KNOW how Spirit 
REACHES MANKIND and quickens within- 
life? 



NATURE AND THE SOUL 313 

No, my friend, it is simply NATURE AND 
THE SOUL, Face to Face with their Creator. 

The beauty of life in life is manifold when we 
learn to MEET IT IN TRUTH; wavering not; 
seeking the Kingdom FIRST; keeping sweet in 
the harmony that purifies, brings perfect under- 
standing in ALL THINGS. Keep sweet, my 
friend, for "God is in it." 

Keep sweet; for it is the SOUL OF HAR- 
MONY in which the LITTLE PEASANT GIRL 
conceived the GREAT, the PURE, the HOLY. 

Keep sweet; it is SPIRITUAL TRIUMPH! 

The concord of NATURE and the SOUL, Face 
to Face with the INTELLIGENCE OF MAN. 

What is intelligence but GOD? The Divine 
working in and through all things; the FORCE 
that governs the universe and all therein. 



THE END. 



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